Calling of the Moon
by creativeant
Summary: For the longest time I thought that Sokka and I were the only ones with such abnormalities. That we were freaks with the mutated genes. Then I made a friend name Aang, a new student. It turns out this...power is common in another world. (UP FOR ADOPTION)
1. Chapter 1 Welcome to J Gaoling High

**Chapter 1Welcome to J. Gaoling High**

Katara POV

The first day of school always seem to be the worse for students. With the exception of me and a few others who don't know the feeling of sunlight. As per tradition, Toph and I are the first ones in our group to arrive. It was still early so there weren't that many students at Gaoling High in the town of Redwood, Oregon. I show up early voluntarily, Toph on the other hand shows up to run away. My brother doesn't show up until later with his girlfriend for a year and a half Suki Chen.

The town itself is split into three parts, the wealthy, middle class, and the farmlands on the outskirt of town. And because it's surrounded by forest there's plenty of tourism in the spring and summer months.

"Hey Sweetness can I borrow your English homework?" Our teachers had this bright idea to give us Summer homework. Why you may ask? I still have no credible answer.

I sighed "Why didn't you do your homework this time?" I mean honestly we had all Summer vacation to do it.

"Some newbie thought they could beat me on Black Ops, had to show 'em whose boss." she smiled triumphantly

"I swear sometimes it amazes me you're a junior." Reluctantly I handed her my homework. It amazes me how school barely started today and already she's behind.

Toph Bei Fong is the daughter of one of the wealthiest couple in perhaps all of Oregon. She's a petite girl that has beautiful emerald eyes light skin and jet black hair always pinned up. Toph's also has a strong personality and yet her parents treat her like she's made of fine china or neglect her. Most of the time they're off on a business trip somewhere else in America. It's a strange combination of over protectiveness and indifference Toph's parents are.

"Hey Katara, hey Toph." the voice of Suki came up, my brother Sokka had his arm wrapped around her waist. Suki was one of two only cheerleaders that our group can stand. She had short copper-red hair and rare blue-violet eyes. Another interesting thing about Suki is that she has a black belt in almost every martial art. It's good that she's on our side of the high school popular spectrum. Sokka Ahote is my older brother by one year, like Suki, and like me he has brown skin and sapphire blue eyes. The only difference, besides our obvious height, was that he had straight dark brown hair that hung around his face down to his lower jaw and I had long wavy dark brown hair usually braided to the small of my back.

"What up Snoozles, Ninja Chick." Toph replied not bothering to look up.

"Katara is she's already copying your homework!" Sokka exclaimed, he was overdramatic of the two of us.

I rolled my eyes "Like you don't copy Suki's."

"...Good point." he said grudgingly. More students of our small town were coming now. And the next two in our group to show up pulled up in a stretch limo. The first six to come out were Ty Lee's identical sisters; Fei Yen, Lien, Min, Qiao, Tai, and Zhi He. It actually made national news when the He family gave birth to septuplets sixteen years ago. As you can already guess the He family is a family of wealth. The last to come out was Ty Lee. Ty Lee is a bubbly cheerleader always seen with a large smile on her face. Her long light brown hair is always braided back and she was the only one of her sisters with gray eyes. She saw our group and if even possible her smile got even wider and Ty Lee would have skipped her way over to us if she wasn't waiting for one last person to come out of the limo.

Whereas Ty Lee was referred as sugarplums and rainbows, Mai Quon was the exact opposite. Mai had jet black hair and is always seen in dark blues, reds or blacks clothing. She doesn't show emotion much the most we get is a half a smile, we've learned to differentiate which half smile is which. Mai is also a senior in our group and Ty Lee a junior. "You guys!" Ty Lee gushed and we were all, oh so fortunate to be pulled into one of her infamous hugs. The cheerleader is definitely stronger than she looks.

Fifteen more minutes before it was time to head for class, the last member of our group arrived; Teo. "Is that Teo?" Suki asked shocked. She wasn't the only one to notice Teo as well. In fact all the girls in the area were openly gawking at him. I actually had to catch myself from being part of the other mindless, drooling masses. At the end of last year Teo was just this average height, scrawny teenager, that had glasses, short black hair and brown eyes. Now the glasses were gone, he was tall, had a lean body with muscles and he was sporting a sun tan. What happen to our computer geek friend?

"He must of had a really good Summer." Mai muttered, even she was in shock, before she quickly schooled in her emotions.

Teo ignored the girls that were now pushing up their breasts, even those that didn't have much, to get Teo's attention. Really? "Hey guys." Teo said with an easy smile on his face. He decided to shock us into cardiac arrest by walking up to Toph and a quick kiss on Toph's lip.

"Nuh-uh Techy, Mama wants a real one." She pulled him up to her lips and they had a total make out session in front of us.

"When did this happen? Toph how come you guys didn't tell us this was happening?" I cried out gesturing to the new couple of the school.

"Guess what?" Ty Lee shouted, choosing to ignore the news of the new couple of our group "We have new students that moved from out of town!" she shouted with glee.

"Why would someone want to move here?" Suki asked dryly.

Aang POV

The good news Lu Ten found a town far enough and away from where our memories still haunted us; on the other side of the country. It's been two years since Lu Ten became the alpha male. Unfortunately the last one either killed our parents or chased them off. So we're all pretty much orphans. Fortunately his family has a huge fortune left in his name so we were able to live in a mansion with our own rooms.

The bad news..."Alright pups." June called out, I hate it when she calls us pups. "Welcome to Jung Gaoling High School." she said with a smirk, June was the Alpha Bitch as well as Lu Ten's mate. She was a lone wolf until we found her a year ago. June is the goth of the family, always in dark clothes and make up and has tattoos up and down her arms. She's a 'senior' now and is a few years younger than her mate; she's nineteen years old. "This is where we'll be staying until the youngest of the litter graduates. So I want you to play nice with the locals and no fighting with them. Oh and stay away from the slags that are pushing up their invisible tits at you boys, or the man whores grabbing what they think are packages ladies."

"Like it's our faults humans swoon over our good looks." Azula scoffed, out of the corner of my eye I saw Zuko roll his eyes.

"Anyway," June chose to ignore Azula at the moment "remember to keep all answers as vague as possible."

"Yeah we know, we know." Haru replied

"Sorry hun, but Lu Ten wanted me to remind all of you."

"And you would do anything for my cousin since he satisfies you in bed." Zuko stated with a smirk on his face

"No. I'll follow my mate's rules regardless." She turned again to face Zuko "And since you're so concern about my sex life I should let ya know, your cousin is an animal in bed." She grinned and headed up the front steps.

Yue saw the look on his face and giggled "You brought it up Zuko."

"Now I wish I haven't. It's gonna take me awhile to get that image out of my head." He muttered. The five of us then followed June to our new school. I still don't know what Lu was thinking when he enrolled us into high school. I mean it's not like we'll actually need this information to learn how to survive in the deep woods. I also don't get why we don't move there now, we're not exactly human and wouldn't it be dangerous to interact with such fragile beings on a day to day basis? I'll never understand what goes on in my Alpha's head.

My first class was US History with a woman name Ms. Kwan. And already I can hear girls whispering about me. Great, even me sitting in the far back corner isn't enough. Don't they have anything better to talk about? There was only one seat left, which happen to be next to my desk. Honestly I'm surprised no one has taken it yet. At the last school girls were practically fighting to get seats next to me, really annoying.

Right as the bell rang a girl walked in and the teacher gave her a stern look. "Late this early in the school year Ms. Ahote? I hope you aren't going to be like your brother and make this a habit for you." She raised a brow.

"No Ms. Kwan it won't happen again."

"Good take a seat in the back." She pointed. The girl, Ms. Ahote, nodded and took the desk next to me. She had to have been the prettiest girl I've ever seen. She's just simply beautiful, exotic even. She had mocha skin, brown wavy hair that stops at the small of her back, eyes as blue as the deepest ocean, and heart shape pink lips. _Isis _even her scent is intoxicating. It was different than every human in the room. Why is this human so distracting, was she even human? Azula would rip me a new one if she even heard of glimpse of what I just thought. When Ms. Kwan was doing roll call I learned that her first name was Katara. The name just seem to fit her already. I had to snap out of it when she finally called my name; Aang Zheng. All throughout class it was hard for me to concentrate on what we were learning in class. It was also hard for me to just stare at the paper in front of me. Still we don't know each other at all. And yet here I am almost drooling all over my paper. I wonder if she even notices me, unlike all the other girls in this classroom she isn't trying to catch my attention. Instead she's actually focused to Ms. Kwan rambling on about the Revolutionary War.

Oh crap she caught me staring at her. I turned back to my notebook, pretending to take notes. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her blush. And so for the rest of the period we catch each other staring at one another. Maybe attending here won't be as bad as I previously thought.


	2. Chapter 2 The Ahote Siblings

**Chapter 2 The Ahote Siblings**

Katara POV

It's always a tradition for our group, to head over to the local diner known as Minnie's. We always talk about the classes we're in, the teachers that annoyed us that day or better yet the annoying popular crowd who think they are royalty. Today we decided to take a wrap around booth that was next to the window. The order went as following Mai, Ty Lee, and I, then Suki, Sokka, Toph and Teo. "Can you believe we have six new students?" Ty Lee had gushed like a groupie at a rock band concert.

Mai snorted "Is that all you want to talk about?"

"Don't act like you don't care Mai. I saw you checking out the dude with the scar on his face."

"You like Scarface?" Toph started laughing hysterically. Mai glared at Toph "Oh calm down you know I'm teasing. Beside you should be happy there's finally another goth at our school."

"Yeah I'm ecstatic." She replied sarcastically

"Did you guys hear how Jet was turned down by one of the new girls?" Teo asked

"Yeah I was there!" piped up Ty Lee "It's the girl with amber eyes, her name is Azula. Even though she turned him down she said that she loves a good chase."

"Do you know any of the others name?"

"The tan one is named Haru." Ty Lee blushed "And the one with black hair and gray eyes is Aang." My head snapped up. So that's his name! I wasn't shy to check him out during History and English(which I now look forward to) but to ask for his name was nearly an impossible task for me. And I was too busy trying to focus on not staring that I didn't catch his name, twice. How pathetic is that?

"Sugar Queen you're awfully quiet on the subject." Toph pointed out. Oh that's just great.

"Sorry was just thinking."

Toph stared at me then smiled "You're thinking about one of the new kids from school aren't you?"

"No." I snapped too quickly and mentally cringed.

"What, Katara is a boy bothering you?" Sokka asked worriedly. Overprotective brother. "You're a horrible liar." Said Teo smiling smug like Toph usually does, honestly what happened to those two?

"Who is it?" asked Ty Lee

I sighed in defeat "Its Aang. We have American History the same period and also Advance English."

"Ooh someone got a crush on the new kid!" Toph sang out too loud

"Shut it Toph. And I wouldn't call it a crush. I don't even know him."

"But you are attracted to him right?" Mai asked

"Alright fine, yes I'm attracted to Aang happy? Now what I think we all want to know is how you and Toph became an item." Thankfully everyone's attention was brought away from me. Toph gave me a look that said I would pay later for this. It would be intimating if I didn't know her so well.

"Yeah," Suki started slyly. "puberty has been kind to one Teo Ying." she took her sweet time eyeing the junior up and down. Calmly ignoring the sputtering protest from my brother. "If I wasn't taken right now I would corner you in a deserted hallway and have my way with you." The winking was just the cherry on top as the rest of the table, minus Sokka and Mai, well she at least half smiled, laughed at a flamed face Teo.

"But seriously when did the two of you happen!" Ty Lee nearly screamed and drawing the next booth's attention much to Mai's chagrin.

"It's a secret." Toph said with a pleased smile. I rolled my eyes at her. Honestly there is no such thing as keeping a secret between the seven of us. Well almost no secrets kept between us.

After eating and hanging out at Minnie's the seven of us went our separate ways. Suki had a jiu jistu class, Ty Lee and Mai found a limo waiting outside expectantly for the two of them and were driven off to the better side of town, Teo and Toph were heading to his place to play videogames. And has for Sokka and I, we were headed for home. Though that wasn't to be our final stop.

Sokka was the first to step through the quaint two story house, it wasn't much just normal. Three bedrooms, one full bathroom upstairs, a half downstairs, a living room to the left when you walk in a dining room to the right, the kitchen down the hall to the right, and the half bathroom down the hall to the left and a door leading to the garage located left of the house. When you reach the top of the stair you walk to you right and Dad's door is the first you see walking down you see a small hallway to your left that leads to the full bathroom on the right. My room is at the opposite end of my Dad's and Sokka and I share a wall and he share's a wall with the bathroom.

Walking into my room I went straight to my dresser and pulled out swim trunks and a bikini top, dressing in swim wear than wearing normal clothes over I grabbed a scrunchie and pulled my hair into a loose ponytail. I met Sokka minutes later downstairs to see him in shorts a T-shirt, flip flops and his hair also pulled into a 'warrior's wolf tail'. "All good to go?" he asked

"Yep." I stated brightly. Sokka rolled his eyes fondly at my eagerness. We left the empty house out to the bright sunny day, as it was still Summer. Our street wasn't a through street and ended right at the forest that wraps around our small town. By now we used a path that was easiest to get to this small lake that ended a stream. It was also great that it was deep in the forest and far enough away from Redwood that we wouldn't have to worry about running into anybody else.

Not a moment too soon we came up to our private lake. Sokka placed his backpack down on the ground and took off his denim shorts, revealing swim trunks underneath, and shirt then waded waist deep into the water. "The water is fine Katara, hurry up." Sokka said impatiently

"Hold on I'm coming." I playfully snapped at my older brother. Once down to my swim clothes I went into the water waist deep as well facing Sokka. "Ready?" I asked

"Of course." he stated seriously, it was one of those rare moments when Sokka was this serious about something. He took a stance and summoned a sphere of water into the air between his two outstretched hands. Then passed it over to me where I left it to hover in front of me. it was then we passed the stream of water in a clockwise fashion.

This wasn't normal by any standards, we weren't normal. I know for certain that none of our friends have this, power, I mean it's not exactly normal to have hydrokinetic abilities. We haven't even told our Dad; not that we see him that often to begin with. I first discovered I could move water when I was eight years old and in the bath tub. It took me half the day to convince myself that it wasn't just splashes, and another half to convince Sokka 'the science guy' that I wasn't just imagining things. It was another month later that we found out that Sokka could do the same thing. For the longest time I didn't know what to call ourselves until I stumbled across hydrokinesis on the internet. Although Sokka like to call us Waterbenders instead; he said it sounded cooler.

Our time went by too quickly like always and all too soon we headed back to our home so I could start dinner and Sokka could watch TV and text Suki since by now she's out of her class. It wasn't long until Dad came in through the front door with a smile on his face. He was a tall man that was well built, had blue eyes, and dark brown hair like Sokka and I. He was one of the few officers in our town, him and his brother our Uncle Bato. He greeted us, and asked how school was today before retiring to the living room to watch TV with Sokka and wait for dinner to finish cooking.

After dinner, Dad went back to the living room to watch TV, Sokka went to his room to play videogames/talking to Suki, and I was in my room listening to music and just trying to relax. It's almost a full moon and every time I always feel stronger and wide awake, it's a strange side effect to our powers. Sokka felt it too, but he told me not to go to the woods out at night since he spotted some large wolf tracks a few weeks ago.

The moonlight was now shinning through my room and I can now feel it calling me out to the night, even though it's not full yet. It's practically begging me to go out to the lake nearby. I don't know if I can handle another month ignoring the call of the moon. Can I resist the moon's call when it becomes full once more?

Sokka may be able to ignore the pull in the pit of his stomach, but I can't. One swim in the lake tonight wouldn't hurt. It'll probably ease this urge so that it can at least be bearable tomorrow night. Of course I'll have to sneak out, and with a dad that's a cop that should be easy. Note the sarcasm.

Aang POV

"Where you off to now?" Zuko asked, his tall frame leaned against the patio doorway that opened to our expansive yard. "You know Lu Ten said no shifting until the full moon. We haven't done a thorough scan of the surrounding forest yet."

I rolled my eyes at the Beta. "I know. I wasn't planning to." stupid paranoid brother. "I just feel like walking tonight. Tell Lu Ten I'll be back in an hour or so."

I honestly don't know why I feel like walking into the woods instead of town. It's like something is pulling me, it feels like the moon but it's different somehow and stronger. I never heard of something like this before. After a while I came across a lake and heard splashing on the other side. That's odd who, or what, could be swimming at this time of night?

Carefully, not wanting to be noticed, I went closer to the source. It was then I started faintly smelling the scent of a person that nearly drove me to insanity in class; that made my mouth water and head spin. It intoxicating, and there is only one person that can make me do that. She was waist deep in the water and I stood facing her ocean blue eyes. "Hello."


	3. Chapter 3 A Bonding Friendship

**Chapter 3 A Bonding Friendship**

Katara POV

Figures of all nights in wanting to swim in the lake, I had to pick the same one when the new, handsome, attractive, tall, smoky eyes...where was I going with this again? Snap out of it Katara! We're just staring at each other, come on say something!

"H-hi." Oh real smooth Katara you just sounded like a complete idiot, I should let the lake swallow me whole.

"My name is Aang, we have history and English together, am I right?"

"Yeah my name is Katara." Yes I said a whole sentence without sounding like a complete idiot! I gave myself a gentle pat on the back.

"Mind if I ask why you're in a lake at night?" he asked curiously

"Uh…I can't. You'll just think I'm crazy." He chuckled, the sound made my stomach all aflutter.

"I'll tell you my reason for being out in the woods, but then you'll have to tell me your reason. Deal?" Aang negotiated

"Deal." I smiled again. Not even minding that I probably sound and look like a smitten school girl.

"Promise?" he flashed me a goofy grin

This time I was laughing. Go figure, Aang was a big kid. "I promise. Could you hand me my towel, I'm getting cold now?" After drying off and changing into my clothes behind a few bushes I sat next to him. Even though we're not sitting that close I could still feel heating radiating off his body. Must be nice not being cold. Here I am in jeans, shirt, and sweater and Aang's only wearing a grey shirt, shorts, and a pair of old tennis shoes.

"Okay so why are you out here in the woods?" he asked

"I like being in the water, especially at night it's calming." I could say that much right? Without sounding too much like a freak? "And you, I don't know too many people walking this deep into the woods alone at night." _Unless you were a murderer praying on a lonely girl in the deep woods._ The more paranoid side of me thought. The voice suspiciously sounded a lot like Sokka.

"Pot calling kettle." he said in amusement

"Haha." I said sarcastically

"But really I like to go exploring whenever we move into a new town."

"So you and your parents move around a lot?" I wondered if the others that were with him at school are related. Perhaps brothers, sisters, and cousins?

"No, we uh don't have any parents, they passed away." Aang stated uncomfortably

Foot in the mouth Katara, way to go. "I'm sorry." I said lamely, I mean really what could I really say after learning the death of one's parents? Even though I do have firsthand experience on the matter.

"It's alright I have the others, we're family now." Aang smiled fondly.

"So you're all related then?" And they're all orphans? Part of me wanted to ask what happened to his parents but then I wouldn't be any better than the 'gossipy chits' (Toph's words) at our school.

He laughed again. "Not biologically, but we still consider ourselves family. We all became orphans when we were young, so we pretty much stuck together."

"How many of you are there?" I mean someone had to be legally an adult, unless they were all emancipated.

"Seven. The oldest one is Lu Ten; he graduated from high school a few years ago. Then his girlfriend June lives with us; she's the Goth and a senior. Yue and Zuko are also seniors; Zuko has black hair and the scar, and Yue has white hair. Then there's us juniors; me, Azula, and Haru."

"Wow." I said impressively. I couldn't imagine living with that many people in one house. I know I would go nuts. "Where did you guys move from?" I couldn't help asking all of these questions, I was curious by nature.

"West Virginia. It was a beautiful place but it just had too many bad memories for us to bear."

"Oh…sorry." I mumbled, I seem to be doing that a lot tonight

"It's alright, things are better now for my family. I think this place will be nice to live." We didn't say anything for a few minutes. Not that the silence wasn't uncomfortable it was just nice hanging out Aang. Both of us were gazing at the stars trying to make out the constellations and look at the nearly full moon. It was a beautiful sight, if only I wasn't so damn cold. "Katara you're shivering. Are you cold?"

"No I'm fine." I lied. I didn't want to leave this place. It's actually nice getting to know Aang without anyone here to interrupt us.

"Has anyone told you you're a horrible liar?"

"Yes actually." I laughed silently.

Aang held out his arm and slipped it around my shoulder. "Better?" he asked innocently, at least I assume it was innocent.

"Mm hmm." I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and my heart rate increasing. I hope he can't see me blush.

"So what's your family like?"

"I live with my Dad, he's an officer, and with my brother Sokka. We moved here from California, our Mom isn't around anymore." Images of my mom flashed in my head. It's been almost ten years and the pain of losing her still breaks my heart.

"Did she, y'know...?" Aang trailed off uncertainly

"Yeah, I don't know if I'll ever get over it." I said quietly

"Tell me about your friends." Aang was trying to cheer me up. I smiled gratefully at him. So I told him about my friends and how I met them and the funny/stupid stuff we still get ourselves into. Mostly because of Toph we always get dragged into whatever it is she's doing. "It's late I should probably take you home."

"But I'm not… tired." I said while yawning

"Yeah that was really convincing." He rolled his eyes. "C'mon let me take you home." Aang pulled me up to my feet before I could protest any further.

"Alright." I said in defeat. I swear I could hear a low chuckle from him.

It was a silent walk back to my house. Aang still had his arm wrapped around my waist and every now and then I would nod off onto his chest. There's no point in convincing him I'm not tired. "C'mon Katara we're almost there." At one point Aang knelt before me and hauled me up on his back. "You good back there?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Hmm." Was my response. He smelt really good, almost like a cool breeze in the autumn air mixed with the smell of pine trees of the forest. He was warm, very warm almost like a walking heater. And he was toned, very much so. It was like Aang was the perfect package. I started to wonder what he would be like dating wise. I shook my head of such nonsense.

What is wrong with me? Why am I so hung up about him? We just met for goodness' sake. Okay so only a fool wouldn't think Aang as an attractive young man. But honestly pull yourself together! You can't go all googley eyes just because he has a nice smile. Isn't that what got you in trouble in the first place? There's nothing wrong with just being friends with Aang. _Yeah you keep telling yourself that. _Damn treacherous brain.

Aang POV

In an act of chivalry I did the romantic cliché of sweeping Katara off her feet; well technically I hauled her on my back but same thing. I honestly don't know what came over me to pick up Katara, I've never done that to other girls. Then again I never could tolerate any girl outside my pack. Luckily we were close to her house. It wasn't long before Katara was fast asleep in my arms. It was easy for me to find it since I was following here scent. Unfortunately her room was on the second floor. I knew she snuck out 'cause that's where the scent comes from. "Katara wake up." I said softly. She groaned and blinked bleary up at me. Damn she looked so adorable. Azula would never let me live it down if she saw what I was doing.

"Huh?" she asked tiredly

"We're at your house now Katara."

"Oh." Katara hopped off my back. "Er, sorry for falling asleep on you like that." Katara's face flushed. Part of me wanted to growl, this little human was going to be the death of me.

"It's alright I didn't mind." Her scent was most intoxicating.

"Well thanks for walking me home, I'll see you at school tomorrow." she smiled softly before opening the door to her home. "Good night."

"G'night Katara." she closed the door behind her. "Argh." I groaned in my hands. I'm screwed.


	4. Chapter 4 The Wolves of Redwood

**Chapter 4 The Wolves of Redwood**

Katara POV

It was lunch time, and I was still tired from staying out late last night. It was a miracle that I didn't get caught. I'm still embarrassed that I had to be carried like some damsel in distress halfway home. Aang sure didn't seem to mind though. Part of me thought it was pretty hot how he was able to carry me that long without so much as breaking a sweat. However as tempting as it was to be carried by him, I rather not make it a habit.

After paying for my lunch I went over to my usual table, but first I had to pass by Aang's family table. They were all laughing at something, well everyone except the Goth who just smiled. Aang looked over his shoulders and smiled, and winked at me before returning back to the conversation. "Did Aang just wink at you?"

"Aah! Ty Lee where did you come from?" How does Ty Lee do that weird ninja thing?

"What did Ty Lee do now?" Suki asked as we both sat down with the rest of the group.

"The usual, appearing out of nowhere and trying to dig up new gossip." I replied

"Well did he?" Ty Lee asked impatiently

"He? Who's he?" Sokka asked suspiciously "Katara you know how I feel about you dating." _And here we go_. I thought tiredly

"You're one to talk Snoozles, you and Ninja Chick have been dating for almost two years." Said Toph, "I think Sugar Queen is mature enough to date."

"Thanks Toph." I looked over at Ty Lee, she was just seconds away from bursting.

"Just tell her." Mai drawled resignedly

"Alright fine." I sighed "Yes Aang winked at me." Great now I'm blushing.

"Who's Aang?" Sokka asked

"One of the new students at that table over there." Teo pointed

"What?" Sokka shouted, attracting weird stares from the surrounding tables. "Katara don't tell me you like one of them." he said accusingly

"Is he always like this?" Teo whispered to Toph, she nodded.

"Gee could you yell any louder? I love drawing attention from others." Mai said sarcastically, Sokka glared at her.

"Sokka calm down I'm a big girl I can take care of myself."

"And that's exactly what you said about Hahn." Sokka muttered.

Asshole. "Thanks Sokka. " I growled out. I stormed out of the cafeteria, why did he feel the need to bring up _him_?

Aang POV

"So she's the reason why I was deprived of Lu Ten's love last night." June said nonchalantly. By now we were all used to June's crude remarks about her active love life. Doesn't mean I enjoy hearing my Alpha's sexual escapades.

When I arrived, late, to our house I was cornered by both Alpha and Beta and lectured for an hour on how reckless it was for me to venture out in unknown territory alone. All because of some human girl.

"How did you know it was her?"

"She has the same scent that you were covered in when you came home. Wonder what you two were up to." Azula said knowingly. Everyone else was laughing; such caring siblings I have.

"Oh calm down Aang, they're only teasing." Assured Yue "I think it's sweet you find her attractive. You're the fourth one here that finds a human appealing."

"Who else here is attracted to one of them?" I asked shock. Didn't we just see these people only yesterday?

"Zuko likes the other Goth, go figure." Azula rolled her eyes "I keep telling you Zuzu that you and Lu Ten are alike. Haru is attracted to the bubbly one in the pink. And I'm attracted to Jet, though he doesn't know yet."

"As if your family blood needs more mixing." June muttered.

"What about you Yue, anyone?" I asked

"Nope, not really looking at the moment." Her eyes drifted over to Haru, who was oblivious and didn't notice the 'subtle' hint.

My last class was Advance English, the only other class I look forward to because Katara is also in it with me. I know its official, I'm pathetic. But now Katara looks pissed. She wasn't like this over lunch. I tried getting her attention to see if she was alright but she kept staring pointedly at Mr. Omashu; who by the way is one weird ass teacher who has a this interesting outlook on life.

Finally curiosity got the better of me and I wrote a note on a post it paper and passed it over to Katara like we were back in middle school. _Hey you alright?_

Katara looked at me weirdly before writing a quick reply. _I'm fine why wouldn't I be?_ I guess Katara wasn't in a mood to talk about whatever was bothering. I mean it would make sense since we just gotten to know one another only last night. So why does it bother me that Katara is upset?

Normal POV

It was now the night of a quarter moon. Once more Katara could feel the moon calling her to the water, her element. She had taken a bath earlier, hoping it would calm her mind and body; especially when she still upset at her brother. But it was futile, as the call only became harder to resist.

Katara knew sneaking out the house and not getting caught was pure luck and to attempt it again would just be illogical. Yet at the same time it was tempting. She wanted the thrill of running to_ her_ lake at the quarter moon. To be in contact with the natural water with its ripples and minerals that could calm the young woman. After debating with herself for some time, Katara jumped out of her bed, grabbed a bathing suit, and snuck out her window.

The moment Katara dove into her lake her mind and body were immediately at ease. This was what Katara needed. For as long as she could remember, Katara always felt somewhat connected to the water and moon. But she knew it wasn't something normal, neither was moving water with simple hand gestures. She wish there was someone out there who could tell her what this meant. Katara didn't feel comfortable bringing this situation to her Dad. They weren't exactly close, he was always at work or patrolling Redwood for crime; which wasn't a whole lot. It didn't bother the young girl anymore, she was used to this family dynamic for some time now.

For a brief moment, Katara wished she could talk to her Mother about this abnormality. Katara had a feeling, for awhile now, that her and Sokka's power were somehow connected to her Mother. Why did she have to die? Why did she have to leave so soon and leave the family in pieces?

So preoccupied in her own thoughts Katara was, the sound and sight of a pack of wolves entering the clearing escaped her notice. That was until one of them placed their paws in the water. Katara gasped as she saw seven wolves standing at the edge of the lake. She felt her heartbeat faster, a sense of dread filled the pit of her stomach. Wolves were pretty to look at, but Katara was aware of the danger they posed. For a few minutes neither wolf nor human moved from their spots. The way the wolves were watching her, was almost like they were studying her.

Still, none of them had shown any signs of aggression, nor look interested in making Katara their next meal. _That's a good sign then._ Katara thought with small relief. The biggest of the pack was male with black fur, next to him was a sleek wolf with patches of gray and white. There was one with deep brown fur and was cocking her head from side to side, if Katara didn't know any better she could have sworn the wolf was smirking. A pure white wolf walked up next to the brown and was studying the girl in the water as well. The last three was another black one with a harsh scar over his left eye, a tan wolf, and a gray wolf. They had grown bored of watching the human in the lake and were now play fighting.

The Alpha had decided that Katara wasn't a threat and join the other males in wrestling. And Katara breathed a sigh of relief, the wolves were not interested in her presence. she went back to swimming on her side of the lake; being mindful of the wolves. Regardless of their presence, Katara was able to relax once more. She was floating on her back watching the stars and hearing the wolves play around on shore.

That was until she felt something stand beside her. She gasped as standing next to her was the large gray wolf. "Uh hi." Katara said awkwardly. Katara couldn't put her finger on it but there was something familiar about this wolf. She had never seen a wolf with gray eyes before, she never seen wolves the size of a horse either for that matter. The wolf's ears perked up and his tail started to wag like an eager domestic dog. "You know you're kinda cute." The wolf snorted in dislike "Alright, alright." She laughed "I mean you look handsome, better?" the wolf snorted in approval. I'm talking to an overgrown wolf. _Suki would have me sent to an Insane Asylum if she knew._ Katara thought exasperatedly. Katara looked toward the nighttime sky and noticed the moon was in a different position than before. "I should probably get home now." She muttered. Katara waded out of the lake, hastily drying herself off with a towel, before putting her clothes over the damp bathing suit.

Not even halfway through her trek through the dark woods, Katara heard the sound of paws thundering across the ground. The same gray wolf ran up to Katara and knelt down before her. "You want me to ride you?" Katara asked disbelievingly. _What a strange wolf._ The wolf snorted impatiently. "I'll take that as a yes." She mounted the giant wolf and grabbed handfuls of fur. "Can't believe I'm about to do THIIIIS!" Katara shouted s the wolf ran through the forest at an incredible speed. Katara was terrified and yet at the same time was getting a sort of thrill. Not many people can say they've ridden on a giant wolf while it was running through the woods. She held out her arms and felt the wind blowing in her hair. The wolf started to howl for the enjoyment and Katara couldn't help but join him. The wolf ran with Katara on his back until he reached the edge of the forest. Katara jumped off and faced the gray wolf. "Thanks for the ride." She looked closer into his gray eyes "You remind me of someone." She whispered, the wolf nuzzled her hair before turning and running back into the forest.

"This is by far one of the craziest nights of my life." She climbed up the side of the house and into her open window.. She hung up her sweater in the closet and left her bathing suit on the windowsill to dry.

"And where have you been?"

Katara POV

Crap. That would be the one thing to ruin my good night. "Hi Daddy." I said weakly

"Don't 'Hi Daddy' me. Do you have any idea what time it is? Where the hell do you get the idea that it's alright to sneak out of the god damn house at any hour. What the hell were you doing out there?" he shouted furiously.

"I was swimming out in the woods…" I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him about the whole giant wolf issue.

However he still had a hard time keeping a straight face, it didn't look like he was about to laugh but was afraid of something. "Why do you feel the need to swim out in the forest at night?" he asked slowly.

I looked at my Dad suspiciously. He knew something, he's been hiding something this whole time. Deciding I had nothing to lose at this point, I told him. "Dad when I was eight years old I found out I have this power to move water with my mind."

Dad's face wasn't comforting. It was sheer terror. It felt like ice fell down to the pit of my stomach, my heart felt like it was skipping beats. "Dad?" I spoke meekly after a few minutes of silence. Now he's scaring me. He thinks I'm a freak doesn't he? Ugh! I shouldn't have told him, why didn't I lie? Stupid Katara, you're so stupid!

"Katara you are no longer allowed to swim in any body of water except for the bath tub and shower." He said sternly "So no pools, no rivers, no lakes, and no oceans."

"What?' I shouted "What kind of punishment is that? What's wrong with me being in any body of water?" he didn't say anything "This all has to deal with Mom." I accused "She had the same abilities as me and Sokka-"

"Sokka?" Dad looked shocked. Oops, sorry brother. "Him too." he muttered to himself.

"Ugh this is ridiculous! Why do you insist on acting like Mom never existed? You never tell me or Sokka anything that deals with her or our family on her side! All we have is our Uncle Bato and Gran-Gran! What is so important that has to be kept a secret that you're hiding half of our family from?" I shouted "What the hell are you so afraid of?"

Dad stood up abruptly and was now towering over me. "First of all you're the child and I'm the parent. Not the other way around, I don't care how grown you get, you're are not going to talk to me this way. You're not too old to get a whoopin'. Second, I don't have to explain myself to you, you'll do as I say because I'm your Father. You're grounded until I say you're not. Now get into bed, and I better not catch you sneaking out of this house ever again." He left silently.

This is so infuriating! I finally tell Dad of my abilities and I end up being grounded! _What about sneaking out of the house?_ Stupid subconscious. I mention Mom and he just flips out. And he wasn't even all that surprise to find out my powers, just horrified. I'm tired of not knowing, Dad has been aware of these powers, since clearly Mom had the same thing. He's been keeping this a secret from us for so long, well I'm tired of it! It's time I figure out what the hell is going on in this family.


	5. Chapter 5 Family Secrets Unveiled

**Chapter 5 Family Secrets Unveiled**

Katara POV

For the past few days I've checked every single room in the house; I needed to find any clues to this special situation. And thanks to my Dad's watchful eyes I haven't been in the woods to catch a glimpse of the wolves either. I've been searching in Dad's office for the past hour, and of course there was nothing in here that could help my situation. Frustrated I stormed off to the living room and plopped onto the couch next to Suki. "Uh Katara are you okay?" she asked

"Yeah you've searched every room in this house, including mine!" Sokka flung his arms in the air trying to make a point.

"Ugh, don't remind me." I muttered

"What is it you're trying to look for anyway?" Suki asked.

Wasn't that the question of the hour? To be honest I wasn't even sure what I was looking for. Just something related to my Mother. After the argument with Dad earlier this week it really brought home that there was not a trace that we ever had a Mom in our lives once upon a time. There was nothing in the household, no pictures of her, or any of the arts and craft we made for her on Mother's day. Nothing. There wasn't anything relating Mom to Sokka's and I's hydrokinetic abilities either. Dad, unfortunately, did a good job of hiding any evidence that Mom never existed or anything that dealt with out powers. "Just anything that showed that our Mom existed." I stated carefully. Sokka and I agreed to never tell anyone about our powers, even closest friends. The last thing we need is for this to spread around our town and quickly be on the burning end of some witch hunt.

"So did you check the basement?" Suki suggested

"I'm so stupid! Why didn't I think of that sooner?" I shot up from the couch and quickly bolted down the hall and to the stairs; Sokka and Suki running down after me.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Sokka said seriously. Odd because he's usually the one to want to snoop around.

"What, why?" I asked not bothering to stop

"Dad obviously doesn't want you, us, to know about certain..." here he tried to look for a word without tipping off his girlfriend "facts about our family." Sokka finished

"You and I both know that Dad will never tell us about Mom's life. If we want to know about her we'll have to look for it ourselves."

"You mean you want to know about Mom's secrets." Sokka clarified

I turned around to face him. "Aren't you tired of wondering what Mom was like? For God's sake we don't even know her side of the family!" he didn't say anything so I went down the stairs. The basement was cold and dusty, as if no one had been in here for years. There wasn't much junk so the process of finding the answers to my questions shouldn't be too long. I honestly didn't know where to start. Almost everything up here seems to be useless junk. "Is it me, or does the basement seems to be cleaner than Sokka's room?" asked Suki

"Hey!" ignoring the two I went searching through box after box. They were mostly filled with old family photo albums or Sokka's and I's baby stuff. Then I came across a box labeled 'Kya's belongings'. It was shoved in the far corner under the piles of boxes. "Jackpot." I muttered. The first thing I pulled out was a small photo album. It showed my mom when she around our age, always surrounded by friends or family. There was one picture where Mom looked be around college age. She had two friends by her side, the two girls both had beautiful faces and black hair, but one had gray eyes and the other had amber eyes. Then behind the three girls was a younger version of our Dad. They all looked so happy and carefree in the picture.

"Hey what did you find?" my brother came up from behind

"A few photo albums of Mom, and looks like some love letters between her and Dad."

"She's beautiful." Suki commented as she looked over my shoulder. As we went through the box we found other things such as dried flowers, perfume, and various trinkets that Dad must have given to her.

"What's this?" Sokka reached at the bottom of the box and pulled out a medium size locked chest. The chest was made of oak, carved with intricate designs on all sides. The top had two words in elegant writing, words that made no sense to me whatsoever. "What does Tui and La mean?" he asked

Suki and I both shrugged at Sokka. "Did you find a key in the box?" Suki asked

"No, and there's no keyhole on the chest either, no lock, nothing. It's just sealed shut." Even more curious. Something told me that whatever we were going to find in this box would be related to our powers. Sokka must have guessed this too because he stopped trying to open it while Suki was still here.

The evening passed by at a snail pace, as soon as Suki left Dad came home minutes later before Sokka and I could even figure out how to open the box. It was quickly stashed somewhere in Sokka's room. Let's face it I wouldn't be surprised to find the key to Atlantis in there. After an awkward and tension filled dinner and Dad going up to his room to watch TV and sleep off his meal, Sokka came into my room, chest in tow.

He held the locked chest close to him in case Dad should, for whatever reason, leave his room. He placed the chest onto the floor and sat back on a bean bag I had in my room. Neither of us said anything. "So are we gonna open this thing or what?" I asked

"Well unless you got any bright ideas I don't see how we're going to open the damn thing." Both of us scooted closer to get a better inspection of the chest. It really was a masterful carving. Especially the way the lines would swirl around each other or branch off into other lines. "Hey look at this." Sokka pointed out that one of lines made and oval around a strange looking symbol. "It looks to be the size of a finger almost."

"You don't think..." I looked at Sokka weirdly. What kind of chest does Mom have?

"Worth a shot." Before I could even protest how absurd the idea was, Sokka placed an index finger onto the symbol. The elegant lines and the two words carved onto the chest glowed an iridescent blue. Sokka hissed in pain and snatched his right hand back as though it was burned. With wide eyes we noticed that his finger was pricked and a single drop of blood oozed out. It was a double lid that opened in halves. The glowing had ceased and Sokka and I stared at the chest; my brother's bleeding finger forgotten. "What the hell was Mom into, voodoo?" It was starting to look that way. I was beginning to have second thoughts about peering into this chest. "You still want to look inside?" Sokka asked wearily

"We've waited this long." I answered quietly, with a deep sigh I pulled the chest toward the two of us. Inside was yet another photo album, a letter, two rings that had our birthstones and made of some metal that looked to be white gold, and finally..."What is this?" I reached in and pulled out a thick text. They were in the same strange symbols that was carved in the small oval.

"Katara the symbols are rearranging themselves!" Sokka exclaimed. A frighten gasp and I drop the book with a dull thud onto the carpet and the two of us scooted backwards away from the abnormal text as the symbols continue to move about the cover. "What the fuck?" he nearly shouted. Once the symbols had stopped rearranging I decided to take a closer look. "Katara don't." He made to grab me but I quickly shook his hand off my shoulder.

"Sokka, they're not in strange symbols anymore." I whispered.

"Yeah I kinda figured when they started moving." Sokka snarled sarcastically. "Look I think we should put all of this back into the weird chest and back into the basement. We'll forget that this ever happen, I think Dad had a legit reason as to why we aren't suppose to know Mom's past."

"Where's you sense of adventure Sokka?" I mocked, I knew that would get under his skin and sure enough he was right next to me looking down at the ancient looking book. "Are you reading the same thing I am?" I asked confusedly

"I think so, but that would mean Mom was a..." In gold lettering the symbols had rearrange themselves into the English language and it read _The Magic of Tui & La. _From what it look like, it was a spell book!

"Mom's a witch?" I said hollowly. "Mom is a witch...a witch!"

"Katara, the letter is from Mom." Sokka said quietly

"Did you not understand, my Mom, your Mom is a witch!" I said hysterically. I couldn't think straight, my whole world was flipped upside down, a world I thought only existed in fantasy novels proved me wrong by a spell book locked away in a strange chest. "Dad married a witch, Sokka do-"

"Katara did you not hear me?" I spun around, when did I stand up, to find Sokka leaning against my desk with tears in his eyes. Shit what's going on now? Sokka rarely, if ever cries.

"Sokka? What's wrong?" I asked worriedly, a stupid question. There were many things wrong with this situation. My Mom was a witch, Dad obviously knew about it, and with our strange abilities it made me a witch and Sokka a wizard.

"This letter is from Mom, how many times do I have to repeat my fucking self?" he snapped.

"Mom?" my eyes started burning. "Who's it written to?" I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat, yet my chest still felt constricted.

"Us." Sokka said quietly "Here read." With a shaky hand I took the letter from my older brother.

"_My special children,_

_ I now write this as you are both tucked into your beds. I know as of now you are both too young to understand what will happen to our family. But do know that my absence was so that you may both live. There are so many things I wish to be present for that unfortunately I must miss, but I love you Sokka and Katara so much and it pains me that this is the way we will depart._

_ There are some things you must become aware. My heritage, your heritage, comes from a world mortals no longer believe to exist. Our family comes from a long line of sorcerers called Aquamancers and our magic is rooted to the Spirits of the Ocean and Moon; La and Tui. That makes the both of you half Aquamancers. I can only hope that your Dad will not take his anger in forbidding you of your abilities. I surely hope that he makes contact with my brother, your Uncle Kuruk, so that you may learn the ways of our people._

_ I sincerely hope that you are not angry with me and the decisions I've made, though I would not fault you if you did, and I pray that you both live long lives and have many children. Sokka be the strong warrior I know you can be and watch over your sister. Katara be brave and never lose hope no matter how hard life may become. Once more know that I love you both dearly Sokka and Katara and I'll always be in your heart._

_With love, your Mother, Kya Ahote_."

I didn't realize I was crying until I felt Sokka wrap his arms around me and held me tightly to his chest. I could imagine Mom's voice strongly in my head as I read the letter aloud. It was an old letter, most definitely. Our Mom has been dead for nearly twelve years now. What was disturbing was that it sounded like she knew she was going to die. But that has to be impossible right? _Magic is suppose to be impossible too, yet here we are._ "Did Mom know she was going to die?" I croaked

"It looks that way, yeah." Sokka said hoarsely. What really happen the day that our Mom died?


	6. Chapter 6 Packmates

**Chapter 6 Packmates**

Aang POV

I may have had my doubts when Lu mention that we would be living amongst humans until we all graduated, but I have to admit this was a nice place. The town wasn't so congested and was completely surrounded by woodlands for miles in every direction. It's the perfect place for us to run around without the fear of humans spotting us; unless you count Katara swimming in the lake in the middle of night. Alpha Lu Ten was immensely glad that she didn't notice any differences between us and normal wolves; minus our large sizes.

The school day passed normally enough, well as normal as a bunch of werewolves blending in with humans can get anyway. I had notice that neither Katara nor her brother, Sorka or Sora I don't know, were at school today. Part of me was disappointed as I wanted to spend more time with the girl. Their friends seemed worried for them, especially the one with the copper red hair. I noticed she's been trying to call them all day. I hope it's nothing.

The scent of Azula wafted through my nose the moment I turned a corner around the hallway. Azula pushed off from her locker and fell in step with me. She had this disturbingly satisfying smile upon her face. That never bodes well for anybody that she's thinking about. "Azula what's with the look on your face? Did you scare another freshman?" I asked

"Not today." she replied casually

That only meant one thing. "Then it was that Jet guy huh?"

"Maybe." Though that grin on her face told me she had another weird encounter with the senior.

"I swear I think you two will get bored of each other if you guys actually together." I rolled my eyes.

"If you think I'll let him be the dominant one in the relationship that easily then you and Jet are in for a surprise." she snapped

"No of course not, Isis forbid you would submit to a male. That would be too much." I mumbled under my breath

"Oh Aangy let me live." Ugh that nickname is worse than 'pup'. "I saw Zuko and Mai sulk together at a coffee house the other day, Haru plays with the sugarplum fairy after her cheerleading practice, and the other night you gave that Ahote girl a ride on your back as though you were a common mule." she smiled teasingly up at me. She would bring that up again, it's bad enough I get crap from Zuko and June. "We all have some weird quirk with a fellow human. I am enjoying this wolf and rabbit game I'm playing with Jet." she gave me a crooked smile.

"Uh don't you mean cat and mouse?" Surely she knew that was the correct saying right?

"I know exactly what I mean Aang. And if he meets my standards he can claim me as his mate." she stated flippantly

"What?" Looking around I made sure the hallway was abandon before pulling her into an empty classroom. "Azula you find Jet as a potential mate, you want to turn him?"

"Did being around humans sodden that brain of yours?" she looked at me shrewdly "We're wolves Aang, and when a certain scent turns us feral and possessive, while still yearning for their touch like a whelp for its mother's milk then we found someone that could become a mate of ours. You and I both know, at least you should, that finding a potential mate is a rare occurrence. Well I know I found mine Aang and I have no intention of letting him fall through my grasp." Azula left the door open for me to follow her. Still somewhat confused over the situation, I trust that she doesn't do anything to fanatical. Even though part of me think this is all so sudden, Azula is right. As much as we pretend to be, we're not human. We don't need a long courting period to claim one as a mate. Lu Ten only knew June for two weeks before the two became a mated pair. I wonder if he would allow Azula to turn a human while we were in Redwood.

"Let go of me!" Azula and I looked ahead to see our sister, Yue, being harassed by a male with pale skin and blue eyes. He already had an angry red mark across his face from where she had slapped him, but the guy was persistent. Acting on instinct the both of us tackled the male to the concrete. The wind was knocked out of him, and he was cursing in between labored breaths. Having the bastard pinned to the ground and ignoring his voice I heard Azula trying to calm down our irate sister before she lost control of herself.

Zuko and June were quick to appear before the gathering crowd of onlookers. Zuko and I picked up the guy off the ground, held his arms behind his back, and had him face June. "What happened here?" she faced me and Yue.

"He was harassing me, even after the fact that I told him to leave me alone."

June nodded and turned to face the male struggling in our grasp. "What is your name?" June looked down on the human.

"Hahn." He replied curtly, his icy blue eyes harden in anger.

"Well Hahn, as you can see we're never really far apart from each other. And when a woman wants you to let her go, they mean it." June leaned forward so that their faces were inches apart. "So I'll only say this once. If you threaten or so much as touch a single strand of hair on any of my brothers and sisters, then I'll shove my 7 ½ combat boots so far up your ass you'll taste the aglets. Am I clear?" he nodded "The same goes to the rest of you!" she shouted to the crowd of students. "C'mon let's get out of here. Aang, Zuko when Yue is at a good distance from Hahn then you can release him then come straight home." A quick look around the area then June turned to us. "Find Haru."

We dropped the human onto the floor in front of the students of Gaoling High. Some feet away I could make out the group that Katara hangs with, I thought Haru was with him but he and that girl Ty Lee were both missing. I did catch a weird look some small girl with green eyes was giving to Zuko and I before she turned and left, a guy not far from following her.

Zuko and I later found Haru with Ty Lee at a park not far from our school. After an uncomfortable goodbye the two shared, seriously you would think one of them was off to fight a war, the three of us headed off into the woods. Zuko had called Lu to tell him so. We entered the thick forest once we were near our home. Still we had to walk a good distance away so that no wandering human could catch sight of us. The three of us didn't feel up to going home just yet.

I always loved this part, feeling the rush of magic run through my veins. My bones stretched, muscles and tendons twisting. Gray fur sprouting down my arms and torso. Face elongating into a snout, my height reaching up to eight feet standing. My hands becoming a mixture between human hands and wolf paws, legs becoming digitigrade. And finally a tail sprouting behind me with the tip sweeping the ground beneath me. Letting loose a howl to the sky, my pack mates joined me. Zuko was a black colored wolf and Haru a tan. Being a werewolf is awesome. Being giant predators that can even take on even largest of tigers was exhilarating, in the wild we were at the top of the food chain.

The plethora of scents from the forest mixed in to a delicious aroma that made me feel alive and powerful. The sounds of woodland creatures minding their business and the feel of wind through my fur proved to be too much. I was the fastest runner in my pack so it was no surprise that Zuko and Haru were trailing behind me.

Feeling the ground shake beneath my feet the fur blowing back and the familiarity of running with my brothers made me howl in joy, the others following my lead. It has been too long since we were able to let go like this. There was a fallen tree in our path and with no trouble at all I cleared the jump. That one second I felt as though I was flying, on top of the world, the ultimate predator. I heard Zuko call out _"Show off."_ in Lycan to which I responded with a laugh, though it sounded weird coming from a muzzle. Zuko nipped at my heels in faux irritation.

I surprised him by tackling him head on, of course it resulted in me being pinned, he was the Beta for a reason. However Zuko was taken by surprise when Haru tackled him from the side. It resulted in a three way play fight. It was hilarious when we roosted animals from their hiding spots on accident. It soon became clear to Zuko that Haru and I had teamed up against him and the Beta took off before we could actually pin him down. _"Coward!"_ Haru called out.

There was no logical reason for Zuko to run away from us. I could literally run circles around the werewolf. Not one to fall far behind Haru and I gave chase. I could smell the scent of freshwater and knew we were coming up to the lake, we discovered earlier in the summer. Zuko stood still at the edge of the clearing, it seemed like he didn't even notice that we were coming up behind him. With satisfaction the two of us tackled and pinned Zuko to the ground. _"Yes!"_ I crowed, _"We finally manage to pin down the infamous Beta Zuko!"_

Zuko still didn't respond but was staring intently ahead of us. _"Zuko what's up?"_ Haru asked.

_ "Look."_ Zuko nodded toward the lake. The three of us stood up on all four legs to see an unbelievable sight. It was the Ahote siblings. They stood in a stance at the edge of the lake, arms outstretched before them. Were they pushing the water? Zuko seemed to have read my mind because he said _"It's exactly what it looks like, they're controlling the water."_

_ "Look they even have mancer rings."_ Haru pointed out. He was right, on their right ring fingers like a beacon at night were their rings.

_ "They're Aquamancers."_ I said in astonishment

_ "Shit."_ Zuko muttered, he turned back and trotted into the woods. _"Come Alpha will want to know about this, now."_ Zuko ordered us. Taking one last look at Katara I followed my brothers to our Den. Katara is an Aquamancer, there's Aquamancers in this town. Can't we once move into a place that hasn't been touched by our world, was that too much to ask?


	7. Chapter 7 The Den

**Chapter 7 The Den**

Azula POV

Yue and I were in her room after the whole Hahn debacle. She promised to tell me what the hell is going on between her and Haru; well I know what's going on I just want to know the whole story. Once in Yue's room I allowed her a few moments to gather her thoughts. I wasn't a big fan of the color scheme she had, but to each it's own. The walls were colored in lavender and her comforters were plushy with white and lavender pillows. "Your wrist doesn't hurt does it?" Of course it didn't but while I was patient a wolf I wasn't going to stand her brooding silence much longer. That position has long since been filled by my brother Zuko thank you very much.

She laughed "And here I thought you were patient Azula." Yue grinned

"Only for so long." I replied indifferently "Tell me." I added showing concern for my fellow sister.

Yue sighed wearily "I started developing feelings for Haru when I was fourteen." At least she went straight to the point. "At first I thought it would be weird since we're all practically brothers and sisters." I had no such qualms, but Haru nor Aang never appealed to me in such manner, though they were fun to look at. "One night I was trying to run away, but I got caught by…_Father_." the both of us shuddered and I was positive if we were in our natural forms the hair on our backs would have raised.

"What the fuck! You were trying to run away from that...monster!" I hissed, didn't the girl know that escaping him back then was nigh impossible? Was she stupid, or did she want to die that desperately?

"Not all of us had a luxury position in the old pack Azula!" Yue bitched, rightly so I thought reluctantly. "May I continue with the story or not?" I'll let her attitude slide since we were both on different sides of the spectral in the old pack, the memories would make anyone of us tense and snappish. "I expected the normal abuse, the speech, and all of the propaganda on how we were a family with the rest of the world against us. Then the conversation turned dangerous, more so. He started rambling how are pack was strong but still incomplete, every Alpha needed a mate, and I was a very pretty and exotic creature. With my rare skill and his strong standing our children would be powerful." Yue grew quieter the further she chanted to man's words. My stomach filled with icy dread, I had a feeling where this would go. And to think I was once on his side.

"Haru caught him by surprise with a bolder to the torso and I was able to grab what clothes that weren't shredded and flea to from his room. You remember the mauling he gave Haru the next day." Guilt and shame flooded my systems. I remember that day all too well, I also remember at the time I was enjoying seeing him getting attack. Now it sickens me of what I was every time I see the claw marks on Haru's back today. "When I healed him, he said he'll never leave me alone with Ozai." We both winced at the monster's name. For everyone else the name brings painful experience, for me it brings regret and the feeling of abandonment. Why did I never notice he really never loved me like he said he did, but was only a useful pawn to him in the old pack? "Sorry." She whispered

"I'm fine, continue."

"Every night since then Haru would always have me in his arms when we were asleep. Even though I knew that Father was stronger, I still felt safe in Haru's arms." How utterly cliché, but I suppose it was the best term for Yue.

"That would explain why you two were closer to each other than the rest of us."

"Yep, and now all he talks to me about is that bubbly girl _Ty Lee_." She spat out her name in disgust. A pleasant surprise since Yue gets along with practically everyone.

"Look you need to stop waiting around for Haru like some whelp whining for a bitch's milk. If Haru is interested in someone that's rainbow and sparkles than that his choice. However if the male comes groveling back to you, make him bend over backwards for your love. And make sure he treats you like a goddess."

"A-are you sure that's a good idea?" Yue looked uncertain

"Of course." I laughed slightly "Males are the same really. Such simple creatures. It isn't as though the two of you are in a committed relationship. Why should you be single while he cohorts with the pixie. And if he becomes jealous, then all the better. Haru is like every other man, they never realize what they have until it's taken. In all honesty I think Haru has feelings for you deep down. Just don't act like you're some desperate chit if an opportunity arises." I got up from her bed and left her room.

"Thanks Azula."

I smiled down at her, "Of course, what are sisters for?"

"Everyone meet in the kitchen right now!" the deep timbre of Lu's voice rang throughout the mansion. Well someone's pissed.

Yue and I looked at each other with uncertain faces. As far as I can remember no one in the pack has done anything stupid... at least today. Still it was best not to keep Lu waiting, it could be something important judging by the sound of his voice. The two of us were the last to arrive in the kitchen. The whole pack was really here. June sat at the head of the table her feet propped on the table and drinking hot tea; oolong by the smell of it. Our brothers were in their respective seats at the kitchen table, all with grim faces. Their scents was a mixture, of worry, confusion, and in Aang's case apprehension. Lu Ten was pacing on the other side of the table as we took our seats. His forehead was scrunched up to where we could see lines, and nostrils were flaring. "Tell us what the hell is going on while my tea is still hot sugga." June drawled in an uncaring voice. She was the only one that could get away saying things in such a tone to Lu Ten. Whipped.

"The boys told me some interesting news a few minutes ago. The Ahote siblings you've been going to school with are Aquamancers." well this town as just gotten a lot more interesting.

"Damn." June muttered "Funny seeing as little Aang has a crush on the Ahote girl." June smirked. "You sure know how to pick 'em." Oh Isis Aang's blushing! I'll rub this in his face later.

"June this is serious. The Ahotes can be possible threats to our pack." Lu growled in frustration and anger. I get the feeling he's kicking himself in the ass for letting us get so close to the Ahote girl the other night.

"There are two of them and seven of us what threat can they possibly pose?" Haru asked

"Haru what did I tell you about lettin' your guard down?" June said calmly while looking out the corner of her eye

"June's right, they could be powerful sorcerers. They would have known of their powers for years now. I want everyone here to stay away from the Ahotes, Aang." Lu Ten looked pointedly at the young werewolf. Aang looked like he was about to protest but with a quick shove from Zuko, Aang reluctantly agreed. "Good now we'll stay in Redwood for this semester however next semester we're moving up North. We'll live in the wild away from human population." We all sat there unmoving while watching Lu pace back and forth. "Until then I want you to stay away from the locals. I don't know who else are from our world. It's obvious now that they're able to hide their scents even from June." Lu Ten continued over our protests. It wasn't reasonable! What did he want us to be outcast? The whole reason we moved to some pathetic human settlement was so we could blend in with the residents! "Silence!" he bellowed. He turned to face his mate, who of course hasn't said a word. "June you make sure the others follow these rules at school."

"You got it sugga." Fucking perfect.

Katara POV

With homework done, dinner made and eaten, I was currently in my room listing to music and reading Mom's journal. Mom had two, one for her personal life and the other notes on experimental magic. Sokka and I agreed to switch between the two when we were both finish. It turns out Mom was some sort of hippy in the magical world. She stood for uniting all races of creatures with magical blood. Apparently the movement was called The White Lotus, Sokka thought it to be a funny name, I thought it was poetic.

Even more hilarious her friends were much like my own. Our Dad was the sarcastic but intelligent jokester like Sokka, though I'll never tell my brother that, her friend, Yangchen, had the same attitude as Toph; abrasive but caring. Finally there was Ursa, she had the rebel free spirit that reminded me much of Suki. From what Mom has written about them so far, they all seem like a good bunch of friends. It made me wonder what had happen to them, vaguely do I now remember seeing their faces at Mom's funeral but I would have thought they would have kept in contact with us. Perhaps Dad drove them away before we moved from California.

"Hey Katara we need to talk." it was Sokka. He's been coming to my room a lot recently. Sitting up to turn the speakers on my iPod down I patted the spot now free on my bed, though Sokka picked the bean bag to sit on instead. The look on his face told me this wasn't a chat about stupid crap like the norm.

"What's up?"

"You remember earlier today we saw those thee giant wolves across the lake?"

"Yeah and?" Sokka certainly was nervous when he saw three wolves staring at us intently, they were studying us I realized before turning back into the forest and running out of our sight. "We're not going back into the forest?" I asked curiously

Sokka took out his cell phone from his pockets. "I took this picture after we dried ourselves." He willingly handed me his phone; if I wasn't feeling nervous all of the sudden I would have marked this down as a historical moment. "Look Katara, anything strange about them?" the first I noticed was the size of the paw prints. They were obviously larger than normal, they looked to be the size of dinner plates! The more I stared at them the more abnormalities I began to notice. The paw seemed to be a mixture between a wolf's paw and a human hand, was that an opposable thumb?

"What the hell..." I trailed off. You have got to be kidding me.

"Ever since I found out that we had magic in our blood I began to question if there were other supernatural beings out there that actually exist in secret. I think that these are werewolf prints." Sokka stated gravely

Had he told me this a few days ago I would have found the whole thing laughable. Yet now we find out our Mom was a witch, and Sokka and I were also sorcerers, and Dad knew all these years and never said a thing to us. But werewolves in Redwood! It was just too much, this would seem something out of a fantasy novel, the existence of wolves and witches. Yet here some were in our small town. The paw prints had to belong to the same large wolves. Now that I look back at it besides their size there were other differences in their body structure than normal wolves. The wolves looked like they could walk on all four legs or their hind legs comfortably...only their forepaws had opposable thumbs I remember now from riding on the gray wolf. "The new guys are the werewolves." I said to Sokka.


	8. Chapter 8 The Dark Witch

**Chapter 8 The Dark Witch**

Katara POV

Sokka and I were walking to school on a crisp Friday morning. Thank God it's Friday, the second week of school is always the longest. It might be because it's actually a full week instead of starting on Wednesday. By now the whole student body of Gaoling High were used to the new family and now they blended in at ease with the rest of the student body. Of course you would hear random snip bits on how hot the guys were or the body on the girls, hormones central, that's all high school really is.

The only exception to those still highly interested was ironically Sokka and I. But at least it was with good reason and not being some obsessive girl with a crush, though I heard Meng is really crushing hard on Aang. Moving on to the reason _why_ we're still on the subject of the new residents is because yesterday Sokka and I have suspicions that the family are a pack of werewolves. I was excited about knowing other supernatural beings. They could teach us all there is to know about the secret world that lives alongside the human one invisibly.

Of course Sokka had to be the wet blanket and go all overprotective brother on me. "We don't know much about werewolves Katara. They may be able to control when they shift but they might give in to their full animal nature. I think it's best we stay away from them." I wanted to tell him I already made contact with the pack the night Dad grounded me. But that conversation wouldn't have gone well. So until then I had to go along with Sokka.

Our problem now was how to convince our friends to stay away from the suspected werewolves. Well it was more Sokka's problem since I wasn't too fond of the idea in the first place. Regardless if Aang and the others were werewolves, a huge if, they seem like a nice, rather quirky, family that could easily get along with everyone. Well I was a little iffy on June and Azula, secretly Azula terrifies me as much as the freshmen seem to fear her. "Okay I think I got an idea!" Sokka's voice snapped me out of subconscious.

"It better be better than the whole they're radioactive mutants." I muttered

"Hey that was a good plan, and very creative!" Sokka stubbornly defended

"Sokka you got the idea from the X-Men comics." I sighed in exasperation. Honestly sometimes I feel like the older sibling of the two of us.

"Well how about this, what if we tell them that the werewolves have some contagious disease and need to be steer cleared of? It's perfect!"

"Um wouldn't they be quarantine at a special hospital or at their house at least?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Sokka visibly deflated

"So we have nothing." I concluded.

"Well I don't see you coming up with any ideas, you keep shooting mine down!" my brother boisterously shouted. One of the residents looked up from mowing his lawn and glared at the two of us before continuing to cut around the bird bath in his front lawn. Who has a bird bath in their front lawn these days? "I would love to see you come up with something and have me turn it down!" he yelled frustratingly. I wouldn't be a good sister if I didn't get under my brother's skin every now and then.

"Hey Sokka." Suki greeted

"What!" Sokka yelled out rudely, then blanched when he saw that it was his girlfriend. Suki stared down Sokka; I swear I heard him whimper in fear. He'll deny it intentionally later, when I tease him about it. "Thirty seconds in and you're already on my bad side." the ninja girl said in a cool tone. Yeah he's in trouble.

"Okay guys we're at school and you don't want to create a scene." Sokka should be thankful that I postponed his impending doom. Suki nodded before sending a glaring look at her boyfriend and walking briskly up the stairs into school.

"Oh I know that look. What did Snoozles do this time?" Toph, with Teo around her shoulders, came up to us with a mocking grin.

"Why does it always have to be my fault?" Sokka asked offended. When he was met with silence he conceded with a defeated sigh and a downtrodden posture. "If you excuse me, I have a pissed off, ninja kicking ass girlfriend I need to make up to." he trudged up the steps to catch up with his executio- girlfriend! I meant to say girlfriend.

"You would think by now Sokka would learn that Ninja Chick wears the pants in the relationship." Toph commented off handedly

"He's a slow learner." I replied

As it turned out, it was easy to not have any run ins with the pack. Since they were doing whatever they can to not interact with the rest of the student body. No one else seem to find it strange that they would stick to themselves, after all they're orphans and grew up together. I guess I shouldn't care either. So why do I find it suspicious? I blame Sokka for implanting the idea that the new kids are werewolves. Just because we have magical blood doesn't mean that everyone I know is going to have some sort of magic in their veins. I mean Aang can't be this caring, sweet, funny and be some bloodthirsty animal. Wouldn't that be considered bipolar, or am I just being an idiot? Not that it should matter much, I hardly know him.

But all throughout the day I noticed that the newbies, as Toph likes to call them, were either walking the halls in pairs or groups of three. There was this one time where Azula was about to talk to Jet but June, from down the hall, glared Azula down. It was weird seeing Azula show submission to someone, I had her pegged as the head cheerleader type of girl.

It took the whole lunch period to convince a depressed Ty Lee, a blue moon kind of thing, that there was nothing wrong with her. Or that Haru, her newest love interest, did not think Ty Lee as some clingy girl and decided to move on. If Toph didn't know Ty Lee so well she would have "knock the sugarplums and pixie dust outta her!" as entertaining as the idea sounds that would only make me feel guilty later on.

It wasn't until I was in the eccentric Mr. Omashu's class that I had a sudden, chilling realization. While Sokka had only seen the large wolves from a distance, I knew them pretty well. Hell I even rode on one! That means if they are werewolves, then they know that Sokka and I are sorcerers. Looking over to the desk next to me sat Aang, we have assigned seating otherwise I doubt Aang would sit there voluntarily, brows scrunched up in concentration as he took notes and was studiously ignoring my very presence. The wolf I was closest to had gray fur, and storm gray eyes... the same eyes as Aang. There was no doubt in my mind. Aang is a werewolf. Writing down a quick note I flick it over to Aang's desk.

Aang looked over at me curiously before unfolding the letter. His eyes widen in shock before a mask came over his face. Aang gave a slight nod of acceptance before continuing to listen to the ramblings of Mr. Omashu. The note read:

_ I know what you are. Meet me at the public library tomorrow afternoon._

Normal POV

It was a cloudy night for the citizens of Redwood. The dark gray clouds covered partly over the moon, setting an ominous mood; though the population remained unaware. All except for a girl deep in the forest. The girl had no shoes on, her pants were ripped and stained with dirt, and her shirt was stretched out with holes and stains. Her face had cuts and bruises from when she tripped and fell. Her hair was now dirty and matted; leaves and twigs sticking out of her braids. She was panting and had tears streaming down her face, making it harder for her to see where she was going. Not that it really mattered to her as long as she got away from whatever attacked her. The girl constantly looked over her shoulders hoping she wasn't being followed. She couldn't understand how she wound up in the middle of the forest, one moment she was talking to her best friend Song on how jealous she was of Mai because the new guy, Zuko Agni, had a thing for her and the next something took control of her body. By luck the phenomenal force that had control over her lost it for a few seconds, and that was all she needed.

The trunks were thinning and spacing from each other, she noticed. Which meant she was getting closer to the farms _'I'm going to make it!'_ she thought. She rushed out and was, for the moment, happy to see farms not too far away. But before she could break off into a sprint again, a figure appeared in front of her. The girl let out a startled cry at the hooded, cloaked figure in front of her.

She could tell that it was a woman, but the cloak hid her face as well as a creepy mask so she couldn't see her. The woman extended her arms at the frighten young teen; her left hand arched into a claw. "W-who are you?" she asked in a hoarse voice. The lady said nothing but took a stance and gained control of the girl's body. The girl screamed. Her body went rigid, she could feel every bone twist, every vein and muscle turn as her capture made her move further into the forest. The woman then made her kneel onto the grass and the teenage girl couldn't move at all. She stopped screaming knowing now she was just too far away for anybody to hear her. "Why are you doing this?" she cried "Please just let me go." She pleaded. The woman standing above her remained unspoken

"Well done my Apprentice." An elderly woman spoke behind the young girl. "Next time don't let your grasp weaken on the victim. Keep your wand steady I want to perform this right." The young girl was deathly afraid of the old woman behind her. She too was cloaked and was hiding behind a mask with three, glowing, blood red eyes.

"Yes Master." The other woman replied evenly

"Please…just let me go, I-I won't tell anyone about this I promise." However it was a useless, the two hooded figures were going to go through with whatever they had in store for her.

The elderly woman brought out her hand with a mancer ring from her sleeves. "Hand me my book Apprentice." The Apprentice nodded and handed the Crone her spell book. The Master opened the aged volume and used her hand to gather water from the air.

_"Servants of Dark Sorceress Crone,_

_Grab hold her flesh, freeze still her bones,_

_Let her body weaken under my control,_

_The vessel free of the untainted soul,_

_The mind struggle with all its strength,_

_A body possessed in eternal death,_

_The soul a need to my immortality,_

_The body damned for all eternity!"_

She cackled madly into the air, the water at the tip of her wand glows a iridescent purple and she thrust her wand to the back of the girl's neck. Then withdrew the girl's soul and drank it into her body.

The girl's body collapsed, unmoving, and limbs splayed in awkward positions. The elderly woman's physique changed, her bones were no longer frail, her wrinkles nonexistent, and her posture now straightened. She now had the body of a young woman, younger than her Apprentice. "I haven't felt this young in ages. This is the right spell." She looked down at the teenager's body. "Check her." She ordered

The Apprentice checked the girl's pulse; slowly beating. "She's alive." The Apprentice whispered

"Good. The process has begun Apprentice, there is no turning back." The currently young, vicious witch stared down at shell of a human being. "Do whatever you need to make the body portable, just be sure it's kept alive we need it present when the rest of the souls have been collected."

"Yes Master." the woman replied.

"I'm retiring for the night, you should the same after you're done with _that_." She pointed at the girl in disgust.

"Yes Master." She bowed, after the woman left back toward the forest. The Apprentice looked at the soulless girl with indifference. Years of discipline had taught her such emotions were a sign of mercy. And mercy was not tolerated in their coven. With a flick of her wrist, water gathered around the prone victim and began to glow. A short enchantment from the Apprentice and the young girl was made into a marionette. "I'm sorry child." she said evenly. The Apprentice picked up the newly wooden puppet and trudged back to the forest. She could still feel a faint beating of the girl's heart.


	9. Chapter 9 Sorcery

**Chapter 9 Sorcery**

Katara POV

Word had spread quickly of Jin's mysterious disappearance last night. Such a thing hasn't happen in Redwood in nearly two decades, so it was of everyone's interest. Unfortunately the rumor mill had been running rampant. Some say that Jin had simply ran away, others that her parents had killed her and stashed her body in the woods. Sokka was convinced that the werewolves that were now a presence in the town had something to do with it. It would have made sense if I didn't know who one of the werewolves were. _It could be all an act, he could be playing you. It wouldn't be the first time a boy did._ I thought to myself.

Normally on Saturdays Sokka and I would head over to the lake to practice our powers, well we know now it's magic, but since the mysterious kidnapping we decided not to push our luck. I was thankful our house was near the center of the town, because if the rumors were true then Jin was literally kidnapped from her second story room. Instead Sokka went over to Suki's house so that they could 'study'. For my sanity's sake I'll just believe my brother, I'm not even gonna go down that train of thought. So I had the house all to myself today. It was nice, I did some of my homework in the living room then just lounged around in the backyard. As a sign that summer was now officially over, clouds kept rolling over town. They weren't the clouds that look like it would rain but just give a smattering of goose bumps to a person's skin.

As one o'clock rolled around, the time Aang and I agreed to meet, I grabbed a light sweater and the rest of my homework; two birds with one stone kind of thing. The trip to the library was only a ten minute walk from my house. The reason why I chose the library instead of the forest were a few things. It was neutral territory for the both of us. It was in public, but was private enough so that neither of us would have to worry about the other attacking and being overheard by passing ears. And until I know that I can trust him fully I won't let him come near my house again.

The library wasn't a large building, but was large enough to have a section where no one goes; IRS tax books. I found a nice corner that had a stand table with a lamp and two armchairs that were dull red in color. The air itself smelled a little dusty. I wonder how often this area gets cleaned. Right when I brought out my textbook for US History, Ms. Kwan wanted us to write our own notes for a section in a chapter, Aang walked around the high bookcase. It was weird seeing such a stern face on him, when usually there was a goofy smile and his eyes alight. He sat down noiselessly in the other old armchair and faced me with a closed off face. "So you figured it out." Aang said after a moment or two of uncomfortable silence.

"And you know about me and Sokka."

"Great so we all know, why am I here?" Aang asked shortly

What the hell? Anger burned in my chest. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know I was going to be such an inconvenience for you, if it's too much trouble for you, you can go! You don't have to act like such a dick!" I hissed out.

"Don't make me out to be the bad guy. You, and I'm assuming your brother, know that we're werewolves. And my pack knows that you and Sokka are Aquamancers, we see you as a threat and you see us as a threat. Please explain to me the confusion in all of this." he whispered shouted back.

"I'm trying to decide if you and your family are a threat to my hometown. You guys move here and not two weeks later does a girl from school goes missing."

"And you think you can take on a werewolf like me, alone?" he sounded so smug about it. Ugh I suddenly wanted to knock him down a notch or hundred.

"Yes I know I can." I said confidentially, never mind that when he's shifted he roughly the size of horses if not a little bigger.

"Right, well now that I know that you and your brother are not a threat to by pack I think I'll leave." Aang stood up and his height nearly intimidated me, nearly.

"And how am I suppose to know that you and the others aren't the ones responsible for Jin's disappearance?"

"Either take my word for it or don't." Aang left me staring incredulously at his retreating form. That little...ugh the damn guy was right. And now I feel like meeting Aang was a waste of time on my part since I still can't know for sure that they are the ones responsible for Jin's disappearance!

Sokka and I cannot even take on a werewolf let alone a pack of them. We have no training, and though a letter from my dead Mom suggested we get in contact with an uncle of ours we don't have any numbers, addresses, or even emails! When Dad cut ties off with Mom's family he did a thorough job, how unfortunate. There wasn't a trace of where Uncle Kuruk might live at the present moment. So if it ever came down to a fight it wouldn't be in our favor. Perhaps there might be an alternative in the spell book. I haven't had the chance to look since Sokka has it. Hopefully he found something that could help us with our particular situation. I mean there had to have been a way to study magic if one or both parents didn't have magical abilities.

That afternoon Sokka and I were in my room, Gran-Gran had stopped by to check on us from across the town since Dad and Uncle Bato were busy at the station. We had the spell book open before us and so far nothing we found could help us find a way to learn magic from something other than a book. Though we did learn some other interesting facts.

"All these years of not being properly trained and our magic didn't destabilize and destroyed us. What luck."

"Oh c'mon it's just some magic water." I scoffed

Sokka looked incredulous at me. "Katara this isn't a game. I don't think magic is about chanting funny words or seeing unicorns or leprechauns. Just like everything else, there's a light and dark side to magic and if we are not careful it can destroy us. We have to be cautious on who we pick to train us." There really wasn't anything I could say to that, though to others Sokka may seem just an average student that talks nothing but meat, Suki, and sarcastic remarks (all of which are true) he was also very intelligent, and always took a logical approach to situations that required it. Like now for instance. Of course I would never say that to my brother, the last thing anyone needs is for Sokka to overinflate his ego so much he floats off into space.

"Well it doesn't help us any. We still don't know if we could find another sorcerer to train us or something. It's not like there's a phone book of Aquamancers we can look up!"

"Will you keep it down, we don't want Gran-Gran to come barging in and seeing the spell book." Sokka hissed "I rather not be responsible for her heart attack thank you very much. Maybe there is something like a phone book in here. I've learned that this book is like the internet almost. Besides giving lessons on spells and aquamancy, it shows information on anything dealing with the magical world. Did you know that the reason why the Bermuda Triangle is so chaotic is because there is an island that holds magical prisoners?" he told me excitingly. It was like watching a five year old eager to share his newfound knowledge.

"Sokka..."

"Right sorry." he grinned sheepishly "Maybe we can see if there's a map for any magical towns hidden." As though the book could hear, its pages started turning at a furious pace to where we could feel a small breeze. Sokka appeared to be used to this as he wasn't surprised like I was. I could feel my jaw slack and eyes widen as the pages in the book finally rested on a map of the United States. There were black dots of the major cities of our country and in other colors that were represented on a rainbow. Red dots were vampire settlements, orange shapeshifters, and yellow were sorcerers. There were many other colors that it was a little overwhelming to see how much was actually hidden from the human eye.

"Look there's one between Salem and Portland." Sokka pointed out. The yellow dot was called Suirauqa.

"Oh that's so simple, how are we suppose to get there hmm?" I asked. "Last I check you don't have a car and Dad is so gonna let us take a random road trip 'cause he's just that laid back."

"Well if you read the book instead of snapping a sarcastic remark you would see that we have to say the name backwards Katara." Sokka said condescendingly. The two of us stared at one another in shock. Our roles were reversed as usually he was the sarcastic, glass is half empty kind of guy, and I would point out the obvious solution. "Promise to forget that this ever happen and move on?"

"Agreed."

"So tomorrow is Sunday, Dad will most likely be at the station, if not I'll make up some lie since you suck and we should bring some money. Just in case this place has a monetary system." Always thinks of everything.

"I'm grounded remember?" I deadpanned

"Then we'll tell him we're going to the library. He'll believe me more than you right now." he finished with a smug grin.

"Shut up Sokka!" We heard the soft footsteps of our grandmother as she walked up the stairs. I quickly agreed and hid the magical book underneath my bed. Just in time too.

My door opened and Gran-Gran poked her head in, looking around suspiciously before resting her wizened eyes on us. "Dinner is ready children, wash up." she said in a no nonsense tone before heading back down to the kitchen.

"That was too close." I breathed in relief. "So tomorrow what time?"

"Noon. Now let's go before Gran-Gran calls us again." We rushed out of my room and down the stairs where we were quickly reprimanded for running down the stairs and not washing our hands.


	10. Chapter 10 Suirauqa

**Chapter 10 Suirauqa**

Katara POV

Sokka and I looked around our new surroundings wearily. The sensation we just went through was...peculiar. It was a combined feeling of being sucked through a vacuum cleaner and just taking a simple walk through the mist. My brother was the one to repeat the name of the town backwards, Aquarius how serendipitous, he quickly grabbed hold of my hand as his mancer ring heated and now we're somewhere between Salem and Portland that had never once been seen by non-magical people. It was a sense of humility on how strong magic really was that it could hide an entire world from another that had such advance technology.

"The forest..." Sokka left the sentence hanging. He looked around our surroundings perplexed. "Something about this place...I don't know I feel-" my brother struggled for the proper adjective. Indeed though, the landscape normal at first glance was mystical in its own right. I could feel my body almost humming.

"Maybe our magic is synchronizing with the forest." I replied reluctantly. It was hard trying to describe this feeling that is coursing through my body. It was like I was suddenly on a sugar high and yet relaxed all at once. Everything now seemed brighter, the colors more saturated, it was a blissful experience. My brother walked down a concealed path that was heading east. "Sokka?"

"I know where Suirauqa is." he stated with conviction.

"How?" I asked skeptically, still rooted to my spot.

"Just trust me alright? We'll be fine." Sokka walked back to where I stood and squeezed my hand in assurance before leading me onward. It was only a few minutes before Sokka and I came to a bank and stared ahead in astonishment.

A wide gentle flowing river separated us and the town shrouded in trees and fog. I had never seen water so arrayed in different shades of blue, it even gave off a pleasing aroma that already had me captivated. I briefly thought what it would be like to bend such water before my attention turned back to Suirauqa. The buildings looked to be formed of stone and actual trees that blended well into the surrounding forest that you would think it was not a town if it weren't for the glowing orbs of light or the sounds of hundreds if not thousands of people milling about their daily lives.

"There's a bridge over there." Sokka pointed to our left where a few other sorcerers were traversing casually in such strange articles of clothing. I think Ty would have been interested in the styles the sorcerers seem to favor. It was an arch bridge made of dark stone that stood out greatly over the mysterious waters. As Sokka and I were walking I noticed that others, in small groups of twos and threes, were gazing upon us with open wonder before whispering in a language I wasn't familiar with. "I think they find our clothes interesting." Sokka commented curiously, before glaring at two older sorcerers that looked to be in their twenties.

"Sokka, don't you dare pick fights! We haven't even stepped one foot inside the town yet and I will not let you get us in trouble with their authorities!"

"I didn't like the way those guys were staring at you." he muttered.

"I'm a big girl now Sokka." I sighed in exasperation. Honestly you would think he would have me committed to be a nun. "Besides until we know how to use our powers to defend ourselves let's not pissed off the others that do, alright?" I stared up imploringly at my thick headed brother.

"Fine, fine." Sokka waive off with an eye roll. I sometimes wondered how Sokka survived this long, common sense is not common apparently.

We now stood in a short line in front of high double wooden doors that were opened. They were connected to the stonewall that wrapped protectively around the settlement. Two sorcerers, identical twins of Asian descent, stood at the entrance. Both were tall, with long hair braided down over their shoulders and matching hazel eyes. Even more peculiar they even wore the same clothes and stood in strong similar statures. "Teast uryo oseppur." (_State your purpose_) they both intoned. Sokka and I looked at each other in confusion and in my case worry. Would they not allow us entry if we didn't speak the language? The twins looked at us curiously before one of them spoke in accented English. "Do you not speak Sora?" the one on the right asked, I'm dubbing him as Thing 2.

"No. This is our first time being in a place like this." Sokka gestured behind them. Though Thing 2 understood my brother just fine it appeared that Thing 1 didn't speak nor understood English.

"Ah, then you and your sister live amongst the mortals!" he said exuberantly. "On behalf of Suirauqa, I welcome you." he gave a slight bow to which my brother and I hesitantly copied. "I had ask what your purpose was in Suirauqa."

"We're just here to explore the town. We've never been to one like this before." Sokka replied. We both agreed that we wouldn't let anyone but the person that would train us that we had basically no training and that it was a miracle we didn't lose control of our magic all these years. The last thing we needed was to draw such attention to us in a world that might as well be on the moon for us.

The guard smiled once more and both Thing 1 and 2 stepped aside to allow us entry. "The gates close for the night at sunset so if you're planning on leaving I would suggest before then." Thing 2 stated. "Ellewfar." (_Farewell_) then he turned back to a group of three witches that were staring curiously through our whole exchange. I assumed that the word ellewfar was some sort of way of saying goodbye.

"Sokka why didn't you ever mention that Mancers had their own language?" I growled out. It was only lucky that one of them happen to speak English, what were the odds of finding us a Master that could also speak English? Not great I imagine.

"Hey the spell book explained everything to me in English, I never thought to ask if Mancers had their own language!" he exclaimed "Look if you wanna forget about finding a Master to train us, fine. But I still think we should just look around." He looked around the town with child like wonder. Not that I could blame him, the town seem to burst at the seams with magic. The buildings held a natural quality, they seemed to literally grow from the ground rather than pave over the natural landscape like so many cities I've seen.

I felt like I needed more pair of eyes to look at everything at once! Shops, restaurants statues of historical figures I've never heard of but were obviously of importance to the magical community. Sokka at one point had to drag me away from a small clustered shop that was named Aunt Wu. It was so enticing to learn about the possible future I might have. Though Sokka wasn't interested in anything so outrageous like psychics, yet he had no qualms about everything else we've seen. We continued down the streets the floral aroma wafting and mixing in with the addicting smells of strange foods. Stopping at a few of the stores to get some samples of the strange new foods, Sokka looked like he had died and had gone to heaven.

I was more interested in this old pharmacy store; though the locals referred to it as a Ecaryapoth (_Apothecary_). The store was filled with ingredients of everyday plants and others of magical descent apparently these were used to make everyday remedies that weren't required to be treated by doctors. Though there were other things that were...extreme. "These frozen frogs help battle a fever dearie." An old woman holding a white cat explained to both me and Sokka. There were also dragon saliva, horns given by unicorns that were on the high shelves and the woman even showed us, proudly, beautiful scales that reflected shades of purple, blue, and green. "Scales from a mermaid. Very rare these days and are just for show and not for sale." she stated sternly. Though I couldn't imagine what you would need mermaid scales for, much less getting over the fact that mermaids did exist but were rare to find these days.

Sokka had to push me out of the strange store seeing as we only had until sunset to find a suitable Master. We noticed that the Suirauqa was essentially divided into two major sects. The western culture, where mancers were more intoned with the magic in themselves and the moon and the mancers of the eastern culture where mancers were more intoned with magic in nature. We were descendants of the latter and were able to find the side of town where magic originated from the Orientals. Even more this side of town was divided into four neighborhoods; Mancer of Earth, Fire, Air, and finally Water. The Aquamancer town was marked by a large fountain in a plaza of a man and woman. The man stood at a strong stance, his legs shoulder width a part, his left hand held in front of him while his right stretched out behind him. Water was spewing from both hands and obviously due to magic it was spiraling down in a slow fashion. The woman had hair down to her waist and looked to be in the middle of a dance. She held in her hands a soft glowing white sphere. It was obvious these two figures were of great importance to all the Aquamancers here, you could almost feel great power emanating from these old statues. Elders would sometimes bow to them, adults of all ages would pray silently before continuing on with their day and little children were now seen bending the water between themselves and laughing in merriment.

Gazing up at the tall statues I suddenly felt such a deep connection with two, the sensation was stronger with the man when I gazed at him. "Sokka, do you know who these two are?"

"I've read about it in the book they're Tui and La. The man's name is La and that is his sister Tui. These two were the first to discover aquamancy. Tui focused more on the properties of the moon and La focused on the powers of the ocean. It looks like the people here look at them as some sort of demigods." Sokka pondered

"Well that's one way of putting it." A woman's voice spoke from behind us. Quickly turning around at the new person we saw a woman that looked to be in her early twenties. She had straight brown hair that went down to her mid shoulders, a fair complexion, brown eyes and an easy going smile on her face. She wore interesting clothes, whereas the others dressed in clothing regarding ancient time periods one would read about in history this woman had on blue jeans, a tie dye sweater and matching headband. It was obvious that this woman spent a large amount of time outside magical settlements as her English sounded flawless instead of heavily accented and broken and also the type of clothing she was currently wearing.

"Can we help you?" Sokka asked guardedly

"Well aren't you suspicious by nature." she walked by us easily and sat at the edge of the water fountain.

"Sorry my brother sometimes forgets his _manners_." I stressed out the last of the sentence glaring pointedly at him, though he seemed indifferent about it. "This is our first time in Suirauqa and we're basically acting like tourists around here."

"Tourist huh?" the woman smiled again. "Omecwel! (_Welcome_) My name is Hama, nice to meet you."

"Hi, my name is Katara and Mr. Suspicious-By-Nature over here is my older brother Sokka." Sokka exclaimed in protest to which I deftly ignored. "We've been around town all day."

"Well then you must be hungry. What do you say I take you all back to my place for some late lunch, can't say no to a free meal can't you?" Sokka's stomach rumbled in agreement.

"Sure why not." Sokka reluctantly agreed.

"Perfect! Come, I live only a block away from the fountain. I hope you don't mind the mess I just opened up shop and it is still under some minor construction."

"What is it that you are trying to sell?" I asked curiously. Sokka let out a quiet groan, probably thinking that we'll talk about clothes or something.

"Not selling, I'm working on opening a place where I can teach little children magic while their parents are busy." Hama commented offhandedly

My brother was suddenly interested into what Hama had to say. "You planning on teaching people our age?" he asked

"Why, you interested?" replied with a knowing grin "I take it your last Master ditched you two huh?"

"Yeah of course." Sokka replied immediately. Hama tsked in disapproval at our imaginary Master's choices.

"What a shame, some people don't know how dangerous magic can be." Hama muttered "I'll tell you what I'll train you two on one condition that you point me to a good burger joint. I've been dying for a cheeseburger!" the woman exclaimed

"As long as you are still providing us with a free meal sure!"

"Sokka! What my brother meant to say was that we would be grateful if you tutored us." _Honestly Sokka_. I thought in annoyance.

"Deal, now about a schedule..."


	11. Chapter 11 Hybrid

**Chapter 11 Hybrid**

Aang POV

It never ceases to amaze me how fickle a human mentality can be. Just last week students were staring at us because we were what I consider as the shiny new toy set, and now there is a wide berth. Somehow they got it into their minds that my family and I are somehow responsible for the disappearance of the citizens of Redwood. Over the week two more people had disappeared. On the 19th of September, Wednesday, a soccer player by the name of Brian McAuffe went missing. The story goes the senior was practicing his kicks after school but never made it home afterwards just after sunset. And then last night a single mother of three name Valerie Thompson, a librarian, was closing the library and had never even made it to her car.

People now are skittish and parents of small children don't even want to leave them at the local elementary school. Zuko had noticed how Mai's mind was constantly elsewhere as he informed me that she had a little brother that was in kindergarten name Tom-Tom. How he noticed that Mai was worried was beyond me, as far as I could see, she only had the same stoic expression on her face.

Alpha Lu was worried that these disappearances would soon draw attention of news reporters from bigger cities; a worry my pack shares. Though most of our world are hidden in towns that effectively run themselves he still didn't want the chance of anymore magical beings coming to this town to investigate. Our very existence is illegal, according to the Magus Laws, and punishment is either immediate execution or Bermuda Prison. The fucked up law was a backlash after the Magancy, the name of our government, managed to squash down the White Lotus Movement.

All of this and the more immediate 'threats' to our pack is making me yearn for the end of the semester to come quicker. However I'm also reluctant to leave, all because of one of our perceived threats. Katara Ahote. The bullheaded, beautiful, Aquamancer. My wolf constantly pines for her. Similar to Azula's pinning for Jet, though she'll never say it, or Zuko with Mai. It was weird that three of us would find potential mates here in this town. However it's not like I can do anything about it as we were ordered by our Alpha to stay away from the locals. Sometimes it takes all my strength and energy not to rush up to the girl and hold her in my arms and breathe in her floral scent.

I'm not a hundred percent sure what this feeling is. It's not love as I hardly know here, but I really like Katara and want to get to know her. The other problem? As if I don't have enough. June made the observation earlier this week that apparently the Ahote siblings had found a Mancer town because of the way their scents smell and the way they now carried themselves. Obviously they found a Master to train them, though why it had taken them so long to find one is beyond me. Perhaps it coincides with the sudden disappearances and they are just training to be ready for anything. Regardless they are strictly off limits to my pack.

If they were to discover our abilities surely they would report us to their Master and then this whole town would be subjugated to a 'cleansing' of all things magical. However it's hard to see Katara doing anything like that, as I see her as the type that wouldn't stand for injustice. But just because I don't see it doesn't mean that I'll jeopardize the safety of my family. Regardless of how I feel for her, my family comes first. We have been through too much in the old pack just to have everything crash and burn because I rushed things and endangered my family.

I heard a low scoff off to my right. A junior name Blake...something. He was a white student that belonged with the popular crowd; probably because of his rich parents. I was in chemistry class and the teacher was a middle aged black man name Mr. Williams, he took his job seriously and I couldn't help but respect him. Currently we were learning the periodic table, the different states of matter each one was in naturally, their masses, and number of protons and electrons each had. I found it all to be interesting, though apparently my lab partner disagreed. Not that I find it surprising he has been like this since the beginning of the school year. At one point he had even asked to copy my homework, like I would let him. As a result we are what he considers enemies. Honestly I don't give a crap, it's not like he can take me on. He should be grateful I wasn't the type to mess with humans for the fun of it.

The bell rang signaling lunch and closer to being home. I wasn't surprised when I saw Zuko already next to the door, looking irritated at those that stare at his scar, and said nothing as he fell in step with me to the cafeteria. The smells of processed food irritated my nose, it wasn't that the food was horrible per se just not as good as a fresh kill. Thankfully Lu Ten agreed with us wholeheartedly and had us make our own lunch. Though nothing could be said about the smell, lunches were now bearable.

I heard a low growl from Zuko as he stared down some football jocks that were staring at us and would mutter something to one another. "Just ignore them Zuko, they're not important." I said calmly.

"I'm starting to wonder why we're not leaving this town right now." Zuko muttered "They already think we have something to do with the local disappearances."

"Because if we leave now we'll suddenly become persons of interest to the cops." Zuko scoffed at that.

"I bet we're already suspects to the cops since this all started only weeks after we moved here." he muttered.

"Well isn't someone a little melodramatic." Azula spoke as she came between me and Zuko. "Is it your time of the month already Zuzu?" she asked innocently. My laugh quickly became a cough when Zuko's glare settled on me.

"Not now Azula." he growled out.

"You have been a little grouchy for a few days now." Azula continued on as if she wasn't interrupted. "Perhaps it has something to do with the Goth that hangs around the Ahotes?" Zuko said nothing, if anything his scowl deepened as he stalked off to our regular table. Haru, Yue, and June were already present.

"You could be a little more empathetic Azula." I warned. "He's obviously fighting with _himself_." I stressed the last word out.

The playful air Azula had about her evaporated. "His attraction to the girl is strong then." the young Agni said calmly.

"Yeah, I think so." I let the subject drop as we sat down with the rest of our brothers and sisters. I think June still heard me though judging by the contemplative look on her face. After devouring half of our lunch in a fashion that would have Uncle Iroh proud we slowed to a more comfortable pace. It was nice to be surrounded by those not so fragile and trade stories from the classes we had so far.

The school day ended quickly and with that the start of the weekend was now here. After a tensed school day such as ours, Haru suggested we play Ntumeelem once we get home. We all were in agreement and quickly rushed home much to the amusement of June.

Lu Ten had arrive roughly the same time the rest of us. It wasn't hard to convince our Alpha for a friendly game of Ntumeelem. Ntumeelem is a Mancer game that originated from the Eastern Mancers. In a normal setting it would be four players a team. Though our pack only had six of us that were also sorcerers, each team will have three members. June can't play as she isn't exactly like the rest of us, though she still enjoys watching and making sure we're playing fair as we all have the habit of cheating.

It was a good thing that our yard is so large and the mansions in the neighborhood aren't close to one another at all. With a yard leading right into the forest we have an incredible sense of privacy. And after spending all day surrounded by annoying human beings it's nice to finally be able to relax.

Azula grabbed a brown ball, the size of a basketball, with a low yellow glow originating from the center. We walk past the gazebo and to the empty grass field. Haru took a stance and bends two average size trees on opposite sides of the yard to form hoops above our heads. The teams are formed, Zuko, Yue, and I against Lu Ten, Azula, and Haru. Each of us took a stance in front of our respectable goals. June is standing in the center of the field with a straight face.

"Alright shut up and shape up witches," she always starts with the same phrase. "Ya'll know the rules. You're only allow to kick and punch the ball, no catching! Tackling is allow and no touching the goals. And no using your magic except against the ball only got it!" A chorus of yes met her ears. Satisfied June tossed the ball in the air.

The ball didn't even touch the ground before I kicked it over to the goal. Lu figured I would do something like that as he blocked the ball from the makeshift goal. The ball glowed brightly as he kicked the ball in Azula's direction. She caught it between her ankles and kicked it down the field. She managed to kick the ball over to Haru as she was tackled by Yue. Haru was quickly caged in by Zuko and I and we managed to pin down the other werewolf.

The game was quickly reset where Haru was tackled. June tossed the ball high into the air, Zuko and Lu Ten reached the ball at the same time. A resounding thud sounded throughout the field as the two collided. The ball flew over to the empty side of the field. I was quickly tackled and pinned by Azula. Haru was now the closest to the ball. I managed to knock Azula off her balance and jumped fifteen feet into the air. Haru and I were at the ball at the same moment. My feet just barely faster than his, kicked the ball to the unprotected goal. "And Zuko's team scores two points!" June called from the bench.

The ball was resettled at the center of the field. As soon as the ball left her hands it was in Azula's possession. She was guarded heavily by Lu and Haru. We couldn't break their formation as they drew closer to our goal. Yue finally managed to slip between Haru and Lu. Though Azula was on her guard and deflected Yue's kick. Azula kicked the ball to Haru who punched to Lu right as he was tackled by Zuko. Lu did a roundhouse kick to the goal. The ball flew inches by my face as it was too fast to intercept and the goal was made. June clapped in a slow methodic way as she rose from her seat. The game resetting. The six of us faced one another with stern faces as the game was now tied. June released the ball the two opposing teams charged head on.

Normal POV

John Shun owned the local minimarket of Redwood. And had done so for the last fifteen years. He also had a peculiar taste for cabbages. He would normally be seen eating a whole head of cabbage. As a result he owned the nickname Cabbage Man by the children and teenagers. While most people would strive for higher standing jobs the middle aged man was happiest at his store.

Mr. Shun had only closed and locked the front door minutes ago. He decided to close shop early as it was a slow night. He reasoned that it was due to the number of abductees in the past two weeks. Mr. Shun had already dismissed his employee, a high school name Joseph, and was now rearranging shelves and then would soon mop the floors before returning home to his beloved wife of fifty years, Alice.

The owner heard the bell ring as the front door opened and closed, followed by a pair of footsteps. He thought it odd, he could have sworn he locked the front door. He walked up to the front counter where two women in clothing you would see in a fantasy movie stood before him. Their faces were shrouded in the shadows under their hoods. Something was off about these women. The hairs at the back of his neck stood up. "I'm sorry ladies, I'm afraid I'm closed for tonight-" Cabbage Man made a choking noise as he felt his windpipe close involuntarily. He frantically grasped at his neck but felt nothing constricting his neck. His throat had suddenly decided to just stop working altogether.

He fell down to his knees, feeling lightheaded. He looked up at the two women and the younger one had her arm outstretched before him. "That's okay we're looking for something of more value." she smiled wickedly as Mr. Shun lost consciousness.


	12. Chapter 12 Jigsaw Pieces

**Chapter 12 Jigsaw Pieces**

Normal POV

Chief Officer Hakoda Ahote stared at the convenient store in tired resignation. This scene was becoming all too familiar for his liking. This was the third person to mysteriously vanish in two weeks. The store was taped off from the prying eyes of the public. Many with nervous faces as Mr. Shun, aka Cabbage Man, was well loved by the community. That was the only thing the victims all had in common it seemed, each missing person was well respected by many and were kind hearted. Hakoda couldn't find anything else in common with the missing persons and was now desperately grasping straws.

Hakoda walked into the store where a team of forensics were meticulously scanning the area for any evidence. But if it was anything like the other scenes there would be no evidence of the perpetrators responsible for this. Hakoda was not going to pretend that he was over his head. Redwood had not to deal with a missing persons case such as this since the late 90s and it sure wasn't to this magnitude. His once quiet little town was becoming abuzz with news reporters from all over the state. There were even rumors that the FBI would soon make their presence known to assist in the case. Where most small town cops would feel threatened at the very thought of a 'big shot' from the big city coming down to throw their weight around, Hakoda felt a mild sense of relief to receive resources prepared for events such as this.

Getting a grip and focusing on the now, Hakoda walked up to one of the young officers nicknamed Kenny. Kenny had only graduated from Gaoling High five years prior. He was average height with black hair and blue eyes. "Any clues?" Hakoda asked, though he was more than sure that the answer would be the same as the two previous times.

"No Chief." Kenny sighed. "There was no sign of forced entry, no DNA other than that of Mr. Shun and a high school student. Like the others he just disappeared into thin air. The good news is that Mr. Shun had security cameras around the store and outside. We might be able to catch their faces and finally get a break in the case." Kenny looked hopeful, while Hakoda hoped that at Mr. Shun had them regularly maintenance.

"Anyone going over the tapes then?"

"Yeah Bato is in the back right now." the young man replied

"Good, I'll check up on my brother than. In the meantime help the other officers to keep the civilians at bay, it looks like the whole town is present." Hakoda commented before walking into the back room that was behind the counter. His younger brother, of two years, currently sat back against an old chair with a contemplative look on his face. Before him sat a small boxed television on a cluttered desktop of papers and pictures of Mr. Shun's family. When Bato looked up to meet Hakoda, the Chief knew that Bato had discovered something unsettling.

"Hakoda I think we're out of our league." Bato stated cautiously. He looked to the open door and back to Hakoda. The Chief understood the unsaid request and closed the door before warily sitting down on the other chair in the small room.

"I take it you were able to see what happened to Mr. Shun?"

"Yes and no. I saw Mr. Shun rearranging some shelves, the doors open and two women walk in with strange clothes and hoods covering their faces before all the cameras goes to static, simultaneously."

"What?" Hakoda had a feeling of where Bato was going and was nearly praying that his brother had made a mistake. "Let me see the video feed." Bato rewound the tape right up to a few moments before the door to the convenient store opened.

Like Bato had stated, Mr. Shun was smiling happily away while cleaning the shelves of his store. The look of confusion on his face as the front door opened and what was clearly two women figures walking through. Hakoda's heart filled with dread at the recognition of the type of clothing the women wore. It was definitely something you would not see in today's era but of a world Hakoda had tried so hard to forget. "Shit." Hakoda muttered as he saw Mr. Shun warily approach the two women. The picture then became grainy until the whole screen was static snow. The static was continuous for a minute or two before the picture returned to the screen. The story empty of any persons, the lights still alight, and the door left open.

Hakoda sat back against his chair, sighed heavily, and pinched his brow. "You're right Bato we're in over our heads." Hakoda muttered.

"So, witches have come to Redwood." Bato stated

"It would appear so yes." It seemed that no matter what Hakoda tried the supernatural world will always make an appearance in his life. What with his children discovering their abilities it would only be a matter of time before they connect the dots. That's assuming they didn't already, Katara was too curious for her own good sometimes. Now his town was threaten by beings that had for so long been shrouded in myth. He was literally going on a witch hunt. Hakoda was lucky to have both Bato and his Mother in the know as he wouldn't have to bear this weight alone.

However it look like his children will too have to be enlightened, if the witches were to catch wind of two other powerful sorcerers in the area then they'll be in mortal danger. If only Kya were still around, she would know exactly what to do in this situation. "Can't you call one of Kya's family members?" Bato asked

"Hmm." It was possible, however Kya's family had wanted nothing to do with Hakoda since his beloved's funeral twelve years ago. They weren't too thrilled when Hakoda had decided to court Kya. He was only lucky that Kya's Father had only wanted his daughter to be happy. "Her family wanted nothing to do with me since her funeral." Hakoda stated solemnly. "Kuruk was the only one that genuinely liked me, but the odds of him going against his Pops are slim. Pakku runs the family, his way is law." Hakoda finished bitterly.

"So what are we going to do?" Bato asked

"I don't know." Hakoda replied.

Katara POV

"Why so glum?" I asked a rather subdued Toph. The seven of us were currently at a round booth at Minnie's, a large order of cheesy fries sat at the center of the table and each of us had a milkshake at hand; vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. It seemed that not even food or her now very attractive boyfriend could cheer her up.

"My parents are back in town." Toph muttered followed by a head bang against the table. Finally she slumped back against Teo as his arms wrapped around her shoulders. It really was a testament to her distress if she was willing to display 'weakness' out in public. Her parents had always been a sore subject. Though now that I think about it, that seems like the common theme of our group with the exception of Suki and Teo.

Teo looked down at his petite girlfriend in surprise. "What when?" he asked

"This morning. Apparently they heard about the disappearances going on and flew back here from New York City. I saw them as I was heading to meet up with you guys." she growled "They had some fucking nerve to get all worrisome about me leaving the mansion. They even went on about how 'maybe going to school isn't as safe as we once thought'" Toph said in a high pitch voice that I suppose is to suppose to be her Mom. "Dad was talking about having me homeschooled! Again!"

"They're not going to lock you away in a tall tower this time are they?" Mai stated evenly. Toph had lived in Redwood her whole live, but no one knew that the Bei Fongs had a daughter until we saw Toph standing alone our Freshmen year in high school.

"Not unless they want me to run away." Toph growled. The rest of us reared back from our friend. For a second there she sounded like a wild animal.

"Damn girl." Suki whistled

Toph sighed "Sorry, it's just that my parents always drive me crazy. One minute they might as well be on the moon and the next my Mom acts like I'm made of glass. It's frustrating!"

"That must be frustrating." Ty Lee mentioned "But at least you have us right?" Ty finished happily as she continued drinking her strawberry milkshake.

Sokka shook his head fondly at our friend before turning his attention back to Toph. "Look I know you'll think this is a bunch of crap but have you tried talking to them about all of this?" Sokka gestured widely.

"Are you kidding? Every time I do they only pick and choose what they want to hear. They don't even know that all of you guys are my friends except for Princess of Darkness and Sugarplums." Mai and Ty Lee "And that's because we all live on the same side of town. Dad would freak out if he found out that I had a boyfriend and that he wasn't in the same social class as the _prestigious_ Bei Fong family."

"If your parents are really that much of a problem to you, why don't you stay with Sokka and I tonight. I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind." Seeing how I'm the one that mainly cooks.

"Thanks Sweetness but I rather not bring the wrath of my Dad onto your family, especially since Chief is in the force. Plus you're still grounded." Toph replied "I guess I really shouldn't complain, in their weird way my parents care about me. I mean they came all the way from New York to come see me. That must mean something right?" at that moment Toph looked like a small, insecure girl. It made me angry at Toph's parents all over again. That was not who Toph was at all. She was suppose to be this tough and strong girl that was cared deeply by the rest of us.

Every time the Bei Fongs would show up randomly to Redwood after weeks away on a 'business trip' Toph gets her self confidence shaken up. I wish I could understand the source of estrangement between her and her parents but Toph is very tight lip when it comes to her family life. Maybe Teo knows more about Toph's home life since the two are always off with one another. Still it makes me wonder why the two decided to have a child if they were just going to either leave her with maids and a butler in an empty mansion or lock her away from other people as though she's some sort of monster.

Our group of friends spent another hour at Minnie's, ordering another large order of cheesy fries courtesy of Sokka and Teo, then we all went our separate ways. Teo and Suki in one direction, Sokka and I in another, and the girls to the rich side of town. Dad wasn't home when we got to the house. I really hope he doesn't overwork himself with this. As much as I sympathize for the families of missing relatives it wouldn't do Dad any good if he didn't take care of himself. Hopefully Uncle Bato would be able to keep him in check.

Sokka and I were bored around the house today. It was a rare event to see Sokka on pace with assignments from school. Sokka didn't appreciate it when I mentioned it to him. We were gonna go to Suirauqa to get more training with Hama, however she called this morning (using a mirror!) saying something had come up and would have to push our training to tomorrow. That kinda sucks as it was quickly becoming my favorite part of the day. We really were coming along. Hama had said she never met a pair of Aquamancers grasping onto aquamancy as quickly as my brother and I. She was nearly having a hard time keeping up with us.

As it turned out that not only were we fast learners, our magic was powerful. Hama was really curious about our family. She knew that our Dad is a mortal and that our Mom was a witch but she wanted more than that. Honestly there really wasn't much to tell. So far in my Mom's journal she had never once mentioned her surname before she married, nor the names of my maternal grandparents. The only people frequently mentioned was our Uncle Kuruk and her two other friends, Ursa and Yangchen.

The two of us were in the living room; me reading Mom's journal and Sokka the spell book. Sokka had found an interesting passage about one of our ancestors contribution to the mythical city Atlantis, honestly nothing should surprise me anymore right? Dad had called earlier saying he would be at the station all night. He also told me and Sokka not to go anywhere tomorrow as he had something important to tell us. Wonder what that could be about.

I was just reading a passage about Mom and Dad's first date, sweet moment but awkward to read, when the doorbell rang. Sokka and I looked at one another weirdly. It was nearly ten at night who the hell would knock now? "Sokka?" I questioned He stood up and grabbed his mancer ring from his pocket, me following suit.

"Who is it?" Sokka called out.

"It's me, Aang, and my Alpha, Lu Ten." Aang? Sokka unlocked the front door and we stood face to face with werewolves. Can I just say I never thought I would say that? If I thought Aang was tall, Lu Ten was taller. This was the first time I've met the pack's Alpha, as a human at least. He stood half a head taller than Aang, had amber-yellow eyes, broad chest and shoulders, and shaggy shoulder length hair pulled back in a band. Both had matching pair of stoic faces.

Sokka and I were on edge. I was glaring at Aang, since he brought his Alpha to our home! Up until now Sokka and I had no contact with their pack leader and now he just shows up at our doorstep randomly? "What do you want?" Sokka questioned the two, not moving aside to let them in. For once I didn't reprimand him on his manners since I too was on edge. More so with Lu Ten since I hardly know him. "I'm sorry to come unannounced." Lu Ten spoke in a deep timbre "But this is important, might we come in?" he asked politely. He must have saw matching set of disbelief on our faces as he furthered explained. "It's about the kidnappings and it would not do to have mortal ears eavesdrop on us." That caught our attention, and with reluctance we allowed the two into our home.

"This better be a good reason Aang." I muttered as we led them to our living room.


	13. Chapter 13 A Tentative Truce

**Chapter 13 A Tentative Truce**

Katara POV

Awkward. That is the only word that would come to mind that would best describe this current situation. Two werewolves were in our living room, sitting across from us on our couches. Now it's not like the werewolf pack and my brother and I are enemies but we're not exactly friends either. Both of us had accused one another for the disappearances and now they were here to tell us about them. What was so unique about this case, besides the obvious increase of missing persons, that had even the werewolves interested?

"So what is it you wanted to tell us?" Sokka asked

"What do you know of these disappearances so far?" Lu Ten asked my brother and I.

"Uh nothing really. Only that the abductions are happening at random, no set pattern nor any known similarities between the abductees." Ever the observant one, my brother. "Why do you have a suspect in mind?"

"Shouldn't you be telling the police then, if that's the case?" I interjected.

"We can't involve the police in this." Aang spoke this time. "They have no idea what they're up against and should they ever catch this person, it would only put them in mortal danger. We think the culprit is a sorcerer."

Maybe it was the way Aang had said the statement with no hesitation or doubt in his tone that made me believe him. But still..."You're serious?"

"How would you know that a sorcerer is behind this?" Sokka asked skeptically.

"June" was the simultaneous reply. I guess that answer was suppose to clear any doubt that we have in them. However as stated before I hardly interacted with the werewolf pack and only remembered Aang's name; the others were a little hazy to me.

"June has the best sense of smell I've ever come across." Lu Ten spoke "She can easily detect a scent, if she wanted to, that would lead her across state, maybe even the country. "We had June stationed as one of the bystanders outside the convenient store this morning. She detected a faint scent of two sorcerers. They weren't your scents, so we're not accusing you." the Alpha looked pointedly at me as I was about to protest any involvement he thought my brother and I had in these seizures. "The scents weren't familiar to June, meaning they're obviously not from around here. But they're powerful."

"So what do you want us to do about that? My sister and I aren't as advance in magic and we barely know anything about this world to begin with."

"But you know how to defend yourselves?" Aang questioned. He looked almost worried.

"We've been receiving training from a Master we found in town. We're powerful apparently but we had just passed the basics." I informed them. "I wouldn't know how my brother and I would be able to handle one fully trained witch, let alone two."

"Yes that would be a problem. But between my pack and your coven I think we would have a chance against them." Lu Ten informed

"Wait, back up, let me get this straight. First you and your _pack _act like my sister and I were gonna kill you the first chance we got and now because it's convenient for you, we're on speaking terms?"

"You were just as suspicious about us. I know you made sure that your friends had no interaction with us, and you thought that we were somehow responsible for these disappearances." the Alpha growled.

"Enough!" Aang's voice reverberated throughout the living room. "Look we have a bigger problem than stupid trust issues between us. If we don't stop fighting and at least be civil to one another, then the sorcerers will kidnap more people for whatever sick agenda they have. Got it?" Aang stared at the three of us. His Alpha sat there glaring at Aang and Sokka and I heard a low growling undertone emanating from Lu Ten. Aang bared his neck in a submissive posture, eyes looking down to the ground. The man grunted and gave a quick nod in approval before returning his attention back to us.

"So we all agree to work with each other when the sorcerers return to town?" My brother and I agreed, numbers were exchanged and the werewolves left. Aang gave me a small smile over his shoulder before following his Alpha into the chilling night.

"Well...that was different."

"Uh yeah. I'm going to bed, it's been a weird night. Night Sokka."

"Night Katara." Sokka had plopped down onto the couch and continued to read the spell book. I think he might be pulling an all nighter again. I swear if all our subjects at school were in anyway related to magic, he would be getting all A's.

I rushed through my nightly routine, anxious just to get some rest before seeing Dad. The problem was I couldn't sleep tonight, I just wasn't feeling relaxed. Instead I felt tensed, nervous. It was a feeling similar to what one would get right before a big exam, though that wasn't an adequate sentence to describe this feeling. Knowing that sleep wouldn't come easy tonight, I turned on the desk lamp and pulled out my Mom's journal again.

Half of me feels like a pervert or one of those insanely protective parents reading through my Mom's journal, but I just couldn't help it. Dad didn't talk about her often, and Sokka and I hardly even remember her. She was a complete mystery to me. All these years I had always imagined her as the perfect Mom. Always there to help cook meals, was sweet and kind and loving to everyone she met. I had always imagined her as some sort of superhero that could do no wrong. But she wasn't.

Her journal proved that my Mom was once a real person. She was sometimes bossy, argued with her Dad constantly, loved to make sarcastic comments. My Mom was very stubborn too and would often sneak out of the house, after blackmailing Uncle Kuruk into not telling their parents, to hang out with her two best friends. My Mom was in no way perfect but this journal just made her more human, more easy to relate to, instead of this otherworldly figure. And that to me was far better than what I used to think of her.

However as much as I would like to sit here and ponder how Mom used be, life still goes on. My life still goes on. I can't keep wondering what life would have been like had she still been alive. I need to move on, as harsh as it may sound Mom's gone, she's never coming back and her troubles are over. Meanwhile the town and people I love are being attacked by sorcerers, and only my brother and I plus the werewolves have the ability to stop them. For now the mystery that is Mom will go in the back burner, the sorcerers terrifying the town are a higher priority.

I didn't even realized I had fallen asleep until Sokka had woke me up. At some point during the night I had rolled to the edge of my bed and my Mom's journal was on the floor. "Wha...Sokka?" I asked groggily, seriously today I was not a morning person. Neither is Sokka for that matter.

"Dad's here, he wants to talk to us."

"Now?"

"Yes now." I groaned tiredly and reluctantly got up from my warm and comfortable bed. I hate leaving my bed, the air is always cold and leaves you shivering and then cranky and if you're Sokka you walk around like an undead zombie muttering under your breath.

Dad was in the living room, sitting in his favorite armchair. He looked dead on his feet, heavy bags underneath his bloodshot eyes. He was really taking this case to heart. Too bad all of his hard work will get him nowhere. If there was one thing I quickly learned in the supernatural world was that magic was just as strong if not more so than technology. "Good you're both up." he spoke in a scratchy voice. "Something has come up in the case, and I know now that I have to tell the both of you everything."

"Dad?" I asked. Was he gonna tell us what I think he's gonna tell us?

"Those water abilities the both of you have...it's hereditary on your Mom's side. Your Mom and the rest of her family are sorcerers, making the both of you sorcerers as well. Only your Mom called herself and her family different. It started with an A..."

"Aquamancers." Sokka and I both intoned. Dad looked surprised then a resigned look settle over his face.

"So the both of you already know."

"We found out a few days after you made that stupid ban on water." I snipped

"Katara!" Dad snapped, he groaned in frustration and rubbed tiredly at his forehead. "You have every right to be angry at me. How much do you know?"

"Only that we're Aquamancers, Mom was one, her best friends Yangchen and Ursa were also Mancers... Mom somehow knew she was gonna die." Sokka finished off quietly. Dad's face was one of horror from what Sokka had revealed to him. "She wrote us a letter, placing it in a box along with some other stuff."

"...She wrote the both of you a letter as well." he muttered

"Mom wrote you a letter?" I asked in shock, "You never told us that!" then again Dad didn't tell us a lot of things.

"Hmm." he looked like he wanted to say more but then quickly changed his mind and clamped his mouth shut. Silence filled the room. Dad appeared to be having a mental debate about something and Sokka and I uncharacteristically waited. "I don't know what it says." he spoke quietly. Looking at our confused faces Dad pressed on. "I never opened your Mom's letter. It's in a box somewhere."

"Why are you telling us all of this, why now?" Sokka asked

"I've come to realize that no matter how hard I try to hid the other world from this family, it will always come back when I least expect it. The abductions that are taking place all over Redwood are from two witches."

"Witches?" I reaffirmed, so what Lu Ten had said last night has now been confirmed. Two sorcerers, witches actually, are here somewhere in Redwood.

"Did you get a look at their faces?" Sokka asked. Of course Cabbage Man had surveillance cameras all over the store!

"No." he replied bitterly. Sokka and I sighed in disappointment. Of course of all the days the cameras pick that one to not work. "Their magic was interfering with the cameras."

"Whoa...they can do that?" I asked him.

"Yes. It goes to show you how powerful they are if they were able to tamper with all the cameras at once." Terrific. Two half trained Aquamancers and a pack of seven werewolves are suppose to take down to powerful witches and whatever they throw at us. "Which is why I will be calling your Uncle Kuruk to come and assist us. I'm hoping that he will agree and that maybe the rest of your family can come, we're going to need all the help we can get. That does not mean you two." he finished sternly.

Sokka and I objected such an idea. "But Dad we can-"

"No! I don't want to hear it. No matter how strong the both of you think you are, you're not trained to battle witches."

"But we've been prac-"

"Katara I don't want to hear it. The bottom line is that you're too young. And I am not losing my kids. I already lost a wife...I can't lose you two too." Guilt and shame filled my chest and felt like a leaded weight in the pit of my stomach. It was easy to focus on the pain I went through of losing my Mom, but my Dad would have had a harder time grieving. While I barely remember my Mom, my Dad had known her since they were both in college. He had a closer relationship with her, remembered every little quirk that made my Mom, Kya Ahote. Losing her was a deftly blow to Dad, losing us...

"Sorry Dad." I muttered. I was apologizing two things: one for bringing forth a fear of losing Sokka and I and two for the fact that I was still intentionally disobeying him. I don't know about Sokka but I was still going to help the werewolves fight off the witches. It has never been in my nature to just sit back and watch when I know that there is something I can do about it.

Dad sighed tiredly again. He stretched his back and I could hear it pop in some places. "It'll take a few days for me to locate the mirror that's warded to your Uncle Kuruk, but if he does come he'll help this investigation and train the two of you. I also decided to un-ground you." he said to me. "Just no more late night swims in the lake. I don't want you to put yourself in danger like that. I'm going to bed, if you're both leaving the house be back by sunset." he trudged up the steps and Sokka and I could hear the faint click of his door closing.

"You're still gonna go through with this aren't you?" Sokka asked knowingly

"Like you aren't." I stared at him. Sokka had a look of guilt on his face, which only confirmed my suspicions. "Dad's gonna be pissed off if he finds out."

"So we'll get grounded." he responded flippantly "I think you are used to being on Dad's bad side by now." Funny Sokka.

The afternoon found me at the secluded lake, alone this time. Sokka was with Suki at the moment and Dad was still snoozing away. I just needed some time to calm my erratic thoughts and water was the only way to do so; of course now I knew why. I couldn't understand what my Dad's deal was, one moment he's secretive to the point of lunacy and now he tells us, in a roundabout way, that Sokka and I are Aquamancers and that he was hoping to get our mysterious Uncle to train us. What's his deal? Why was he living in denial all these years about the other world? Did he not know that Sokka and I are lucky that our magic didn't destroy us for being untrained for so long?

I didn't want to think about that right now. I came here for a mild relief from town. Instead I focused on the water's movement, following under my command. Push and pull, rise and fall. I had the movements matched in time with my breathing, it was meditative. My muscles felt lax and all of my problems were, at least temporarily, abated.

A twig snapped behind me and with a quick reaction time that would do an Aquamancer proud an ice spear sunk thick into the tree trunk right where Aang's head was. "Shit, I'm sorry, you just scared the crap out of me." I breathed deeply to calm my erratic heart rate.

Aang didn't look perturbed, if the smile on his face was anything to go by. "Nice moves."

"I nearly killed you and all you have to say about it is 'nice moves'?" I asked incredulously.

"Well you didn't kill me, and you moved as fast as Master Aquamancers I've seen before." he shrugged indifferently.

"Uh thanks...is there any reason why you're here?"

"Just wanted some fresh air. I normally walk around here too, I just didn't expect to get attacked by you." he grinned in a childlike playful manner.

I didn't understand what was going on. Yesterday was the first time we were even looking at one another and now we're suppose to act like the rift between my family and his pack never happened? I asked him this as well.

Aang's smile dropped and he ran a hand through his hair. "Look I know that there has been some tensions between your family and mine, but since we're now working together I thought it would be a good opportunity to mend our budding friendship." he gave a crooked smile.

Part of me liked the idea...okay a huge part liked the idea of befriending Aang again. But can we really just forget about being at each other's throats for the past week or so? I like to think so. The problem was that I liked him more than just friends. Could I really let him get close to my heart? The last time I did, that relationship didn't end well for me. "I'll tell you what, why don't you and I start over? This could be our first meeting." Aang said

"Uh, okay?" I asked unsurely

"Great!" he responded enthusiastically. He held out a calloused hand. "Hi, my name is Aang Zheng and I'm a werewolf." he said simply.

Smiling at Aang's humor I replied. "My name is Katara Ahote and I'm a Aquamancer." I grasped his hand and we shook briefly. A small shiver ran down my spine as I felt a spark ignite between our touch. Well...that was peculiar, though I don't know if that was a good or bad thing. If Aang noticed anything, he didn't let it show on his face.

"Aquamancer huh? Does that mean you play with magic water?" he teased eliciting a small laughter from me.

"Well that's one way of saying it, yes. Do you get attack by fleas then?" I smirked at his affronted face.

He turned his nose up in a faux snobbish fashion. "I have you know that my coat is cleaned and brushed twice a week thank you very much." he spoke in a horribly done British accent.

"Why British?" I asked laughingly

"It was the first thing that came to mind. Well it is a pleasure meeting you Miss Ahote."

Rolling my eyes I played along. "The pleasure is all mine Mr. Zheng, though my friends call me Katara." I looked pointedly at the tall boy.

"So this means we're friends now?" Aang asked hopefully.

"Yes this means we're friends." I replied grinning. "Tell me, what's it like being a werewolf?"


	14. Chapter 14 An Innocent Soul

**Chapter 14 An Innocent Soul**

Normal POV

"...and Mrs. Minnick said that we will learn our shapes today. But I already know my shapes." a little five year old boy stated proudly. Mai smiled down at her little brother fondly. The Goth had decided to walk her brother to his elementary school, much to her Mom's chagrin.

"Good job Tommy, I'm proud of you." Tommy, also known as Tom-Tom, smiled proudly up at his big sister before he continued rambling on about his kindergarten class. Mai was watching with amusement at the boy's excitement in learning his numbers. Tommy was the only person in her life where Mai could let go of her mask and just be herself. The same could not be said for when she was around her parents, even her friends she held some reserve.

Her Mother was the 'perfect' first class woman, always hosting tea parties or galas and even charity events. The Quons were even hosting a Masquerade Ball for Halloween this year. Then there was her Dad, he was in the political game. In fact he was actually the mayor of Redwood, not that Mai would boast about that. Mai had heard him conversing a few times with his colleagues about running for Governor. She shuddered at such an idea. Should that be the case, Mai would have to play the perfect daughter...and where dresses.

While Mai and Tommy continued walking onto Evergreen Elementary, really couldn't the town come up with a more original name, they were unaware that they were being followed. A young woman dressed in dark jeans and hoodie that obscured her face was watching from across the street.

It was a bold move on the unknown person's part. It had appeared that there were a few magicals alerted to her and her Apprentice's appearance. A pack of werewolves on one end, most with a strange aura about them that made them differ from others of their kind. Another pack of werewolves, only with two members and one also had the same-like aura around her as the other wolves. And then the two Aquamancers, they were most intriguing and perhaps the most threatening to the Master. There power, when they reached their full potential, will even outmatch hers. However the Master would be long gone before such a time could occur.

Still, it was best to error on the side of caution, she did not want to draw any more attention than she already did. The Master still had six more souls to pluck before her ritual was complete. And now she found the fourth. The little boy walking merrily next to a girl dressed in black. It was the brightest soul the Master had seen yet. So pure, so innocent, it was a drug to the demented witch. Already can the woman imagine the taste of such of soul sliding down her throat. The little boy would indeed make a strong puppet one day, all the more reason to pluck the delectable human into her firm grasp.

Though this one required more planning. Whether the Goth girl knew it or not, the boy was guarded fiercely by four of the magicals roaming in the town. "And possibly a fifth." the Master sneered. From the opposite end of the siblings came a tall young boy with shaggy black hair and a hideous scar marring his face. The Master quickly stood back into the shadows of the nearest building, it was lucky that she had already masked her magical signature. The boy was from the larger werewolf pack, that much was certain. And like the others his magical signature was outlandish. And it left the witch pondering. There was something special about the locals here. Perhaps when the Master had finished her original goal, she might just investigate these other supernatural beings. But for now, she had plans to make for the capture of her next meal. And what a delicious meal he'll be.

Katara POV

Sokka stood on one end of the rectangular arena; I on the other end. The ground below us was made of hard stone and the perimeter was surrounded by flowing water. Master Hama stood on the steps, arms crossed over her chest and a serious look upon her face. "Dyare." (_Ready_) Master Hama spoke in Sora. The two of us shifted into ready stances. "Ingbe!" (_Begin_) Sokka sent a water whip to my midsection. I twirled it round my body and sent it back to Sokka. With the thrust of his palm the water exploded into droplets. Water twirled angrily around my body and I sent ice spears to the other Aquamancer. Sokka ducked, crouched, and jumped out of the weapon's trajectory. Twirling on one hand in a helicopter move Sokka bent arcs of water. I slapped each stream from me and gather the last of the water sent my way into a pinwheel. With high velocity the pinwheel went to Sokka's way and formed into an ice disk at the last second. Sokka barely managed to dodge the disk a few centimeters from him.

A challenging smirk played his features. "So that's how you wanna play huh?" he muttered. Ice gloves covered his hands and Sokka rushed at me. I formed an ice shield quickly, though it was weak as Sokka was able to punch through it. I bobbed and weaved every punch he sent at me. I finally grabbed hold of both his fists and the ice crunched under my firm grasp. I kicked a ball of icy water to his midsection and he flew back to the other end with a loud "oomph!"

Water gathered beneath my feet and I rode my wave to my downed opponent. I used water to boost me high into the air and I brought down a thin swipe of water onto where Sokka was previously. His leg swung inches over my head as I crouched down. Water soaked my back and I was push almost into the perimeter. Sokka stood feet from me and brought out a water whip from the stream.

Before he could even make use of it, Sokka was charged at his side and hit the ground hard. Sokka and I turned our attention over to Master Hama, she had a challenging grin and was standing in a fighting stance. "Always be aware of your surroundings." our Master spoke. Hama held out her hands and formed spheres of water out of nothing! I was unaware Aquamancers could do that. The two trajectories flew at me and my brother too quickly and the next thing I knew I was in the water.

Sputtering Sokka and I looked at one another and Sokka gave a slight nod. A towering wave of water rose up behind us, shadowing the whole fighting field. Master Hama had a look of trepidation before Sokka and I sent the wave crashing down. Every surface in the yard was soaked with water including Master Hama. Though amazingly she was still standing! When Master Hama got her bearings once more she smiled at the both of us. "Well done, both of you. I have to say this, and don't let it go to your head, but damn you guys are strong."

I rolled my eyes at my brother as his chest puffed out proudly. "Well I have been working out." he replied while massaging his so called muscles.

"Very nice Sokka." Hama patronized my brother. "I think that'll be all today. Tomorrow we will learn the multiple water whips and then next week the waterspout. I gotta tell ya, keep this up and by the end of your school year, you might be masters yourselves. I think we'll start on the spiritual side to aquamancy sometime later this week."

"Thank you Master Hama." both of us spoke sagely.

Hama waived off our gratitude and bent the water off from her clothing. "If you guys want, you can stay for dinner." Sokka immediately showed his interest in the thought of free food.

"Thanks Hama but we really must be going, we still have homework to do. Right Sokka?" I asked pointedly at my 'ravenous' brother.

"Ugh. Fine." he muttered. "Always the wet blanket."

Hama shrugged indifferently. "Alright then, same time tomorrow." We walked through Hama's finished shop and out the front door where a small group of ten year old Aquamancers stood there excitingly besides their parents. Hama smiled widely at her small class and waived us off. She really did enjoyed teaching I've noticed.

"Do you think we have time for a little perusing around the town before we return home?" I taunted my older brother. He was staring longingly at the markets we were walking by. We haven't really had the time to explore the town since we first came to Suirauqa to look for a Master. And Sokka was always anxious to go to at least one store before we head home. Now normally I would indulge my brother with his shopping tendencies, but today was no good. Did you ever get those days where the teachers don't assign any homework for a few days, and then one day they all simultaneously give you large amount of homework, and schedule exams all on the same day? Well that's what happened to me.

I swear Junior year has got to be the toughest year in all of high school. What with AP classes and then taking prep classes for the SAT, which Sokka kindly pointed out stood for Stupid Ass Test, next semester, and then looking for colleges with your intended major and you have one stressed out student. Add to the fact that Sokka and I are learning aquamancy while keeping it a secret from our friends, it's a wonder I haven't gone insane yet.

"Shut it Katara." Sokka muttered. The two of us bid the twin sentries farewell as we left the outer wall and walked over the stone bridge. The water below us as hypnotic as ever, unfortunately it was against the law to bend the water or use it for any magical purposes until you became a Master in a specific branch of magic. I couldn't wait to get a try for it.

The two of us found the hidden rune circle that was the transportal to and from the mancer town. Magic truly was a peculiar thing. Sokka took hold of my hand as we stepped inside the circle, now that I was studying aquamancy I was starting to develop a sense of detecting magic. The magic inside the rune circle was different than outside, it was old magic. Perhaps even older than this forest. Sokka called out our town's name backwards, Doowder, and we were whisked away to our private lake.

"Oh look a welcoming committee." Sokka spoke in a snarky tone. Before us stood three members of the werewolf pack. Zuko stood at the center while Aang and Azula flanked him.

"Sorry we didn't bring any balloons, though you seem to have enough hot air as it is." Azula smirked in Sokka direction.

"Azula!" "Sokka!" two voices were heard simultaneously as the instigators were yelled at. Honestly couldn't my brother at least try to be civil with the werewolf pack? "We're not here to mess around." Zuko glared at his younger sister.

"I was only toying with the little witch." Azula taunted

"Damn girl needs to be put on a leash." I heard my brother mutter

"Okay! Look as hilarious as it is to see the two of you fight, can we get onto why the three of you decided to wait for us?"

"The witch crossed our borders once more. June followed her scent before she masked it." Zuko informed us.

"Did anyone go missing?" I asked worriedly. My stomach felt like it was full of acid, at the rate this witch was going, it would only be a matter of time before one of my friends ended up missing unless we somehow caught her. The problem was that the sorcerers don't exactly follow a set schedule. And by the time we are aware of their presence, it's too late. It's like trying to catch smoke.

"Thankfully no, but we're worried that her next victim will be a student from one of the two schools. That was where she masked her scent." Aang informed my brother and I.

"Okay I'm new to this whole magic deal so forgive if I sound stupid for asking this,"

"It's only in your nature." Azula replied oh so helpfully

"Quiet mutt." Sokka looked smug when the she-wolf growled low in her throat. It sounded strangely familiar. "Couldn't we set up some wards that could block the witches from entering Redwood?"

"Unfortunately there are no wards that could protect an area this large without the help of ley lines. And the nearest one is in northern Oregon, too far away to be any assistance to us. What we can try is put warding stones keyed to our houses so that we'll know whenever someone of magical blood crosses the perimeter of the town." Aang informed us.

"That still isn't good enough. Those witches have proved time and time again that they can pass under our noses." Sokka spoke out.

"I know that this isn't ideal, but it's better than doing nothing." Zuko said calmly.

"So basically this little impromptu meeting was a waste of time, great!"

"Sokka! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas genius. All I see is an inept Aquamancer who until this semester knew nothing of magic!"

"You know I'm getting sick and tired of this superior attitude you always have on you. I'm warning you now, shut the fuck up or I'll make you." His fisted balled and was slowing encasing into ice. This was escalating too quickly. Aang and Zuko were taking offense to my brothers words and were now baring their teeth like rabid animals. Water was churning in the nearby lake under Sokka's command.

"Come and get it." Azula smiled heinously. Her hands were slowly morphing into claws and the canines of her teeth had sharpened giving her more of a feral look. Joyous fire burned behind her eyes as if an inner power was just beneath the surface waiting to make its presence known.

"That's it!" I shouted in frustration. My arms lifted above my head and the water that was previously under Sokka's control was now mine to direct. A large twenty foot wave loomed above everyone and with a flick of my wrist went crashing down on the fuming group. "We are not going to turn on one another when there are a psychotic pair of witches terrorizing our towns. Zuko anything else we need to know?"

The scarred werewolf stared at me incredulously. Azula stared me down with a pair of cold fury eyes, I think I just made an arch-nemesis. Oh joy. Aang too looked at me in disbelief but his eyes also reflect a sense of respect. "Well since you're all speechless I'll take it as a no. C'mon Sokka." I pulled his arm in the opposite direction of the small pack. "And Azula, the next time you make a comment like that to my brother, I'll take you on myself."

"I look forward to it." she smirked then turned on her heels and left her brothers behind. What a bitch! A quick nod to the two guys still standing there and Sokka and I left.

We were walking in silence for a few minutes, I was trying to get my emotions in check. At the mood Sokka was in, yelling at him would not be the best route to take. No matter how much I wanted to yell at the dim-witted Aquamancer. "Sokka what the hell was that back there?"

"I don't like them Katara." he responded angrily "And it frustrates me that you're being all buddy-buddy up to Aang again."

"Buddy-Buddy? And who I hang out with is none of your business. I'm not a little girl Sokka, I can take care of myself."

"And that's just what you said when I told you not to date-"

"I know what you said! Don't even bring up that jackass again Sokka or I'll kick your ass." he rolled his eyes and held his hands up in surrender. "And back to the wolves. I don't care if you don't like them, you could at least be polite! What did you shove all of your manners up your ass?"

"Katara shut up and listen." he shouted. Sokka stopped us at the edge of the forest and made it clear not to walk any farther until this was settled. "I don't trust them Katara, at all. They're still hiding something from us."

"Everyone is entitled to their secrets."

"Unless that secret being kept can affect the safety of us, the whole town, or our friends. Those werewolves know too much about Mancer society."

"And what of it? They're part of the supernatural world, why wouldn't they know about mancers?"

"Katara I've been reading the spell book Mom left us. This world is segregated. There are mutual distrust and hate between races and the only reason why there is no magical war is because they're all suppress by the common enemy; humans."

"What..."

"The fact that those wolves are not in a shifter town and are hiding amongst humans is suspicious enough, but for them to know so much of our culture raises red flags."

"Sokka regardless what you feel for them, they are not the enemy."

"And I know that. All I'm saying is if we're going to end whatever this is those witches are doing, we're going to have a better trust between us and them."

"And what better way than to pass out the olive branch to them? I know how you feel about them Sokka but you have to trust me that I know what I'm doing. I'm not some defenseless damsel. I have more power than that and I don't think Aang will do harm to me." Yet deep down even I have my doubts.

Sokka stared at me for a few moments with a pensive gaze across his face. Finally he sighed in defeat and gave me a grim smile. "Alright Katara, I'll go along with whatever you think it's right."

"Thanks Sokka." He gave me a quick hug before we continued on down the road.

"By the way what you said to that Azula chick, pure awesomeness!" he gushed. "If only Suki and Toph were there to witness that! It's not every day you meet your arch-rival! Good job champ." He swung his arms over my shoulders.

"Gee thanks Sokka." I responded sarcastically, though the smile I gave my brother illustrated that I was somewhat touch over his high praise.


	15. Chapter 15 Twitterpated

**Chapter 15 Twitterpated **

Aang POV

It was official, I was completely taken with Katara. Yesterday's event had proven so. The fact that Katara had drenched everyone using her magic and then nearly went toe-to-toe with Azula, just made her all the more attractive to me. Even June was impressed when she asked why we were soaked in water. Yue had laughed at the three of us trailing water in the house; even with Azula's death glare sent her way.

Right now it was after school and Katara decided to spend some time in the public library. We both had our homework spread across the dusty table. Though I was easily distracted. I know I must sound like a lovesick puppy but honestly I could care less at this moment. Katara sat hunched over her homework, her brows scrunched up as she was reading some passage in her textbook. She had the end of her pencil pressed against her lips, the whole thing was rather adorable. Did I really think the word adorable? If Zuko ever heard that or Isis forbid...Azula, I'll never hear the end of it.

But it's not like I could really help it, Katara was quickly becoming a main topic of my thoughts. Her scent when she brushed her fingers through her hair, her laugh, those sapphire blue eyes. Damn I've never seen eyes with such intensity before, they reminded me of the eyes that you would see in anime shows. Then there was her soft cheeks and plump lips that were just begging to be kissed senselessly. I really should just act on these feelings, both me and my wolf constantly yearn for her companionship, a simple touch. Dear Isis I almost sound like a sappy girl.

Katara looked up from her textbook and giggled. Freaking giggled. As if what she does normally doesn't make my blood boil. Her giggling is even cute! "What's so funny Aang?"

I didn't even realize I had laughed. "Nothing." my voice came out rougher than usual and it made the young Aquamancer blush. That's it I can't stand this anymore, I'm gonna ask her out. I can do this, it's obvious that she likes me too, so there's no reason for me to be this nervous. Right? Who the hell was I kidding I was fucking nervous. Just get it done Zheng!

"Hey Aang I had a question." Katara set aside her homework.

"Sure what is it?" What were the odds that Katara might bring up the topic of 'us'?... Did I really just think that? I'm so pathetic.

"What are vampires really like?" Or we could talk about vampires. Awesome.

"I've only ran into two before. It's easier just to think about everything you know about vampires and toss it out the freaking window. They don't burn in sunlight, their strength just weakens. They're not these refine, immortal, sophisticated supermodels from Abercrombie and Fitch. Nor do they have this crazy notion in falling in love with their food." Seriously who came up with that idea? "They're cunning, intelligent predators that can only be taken down with silver. They have ghostly white skin, black eyes, bald, and travel in small packs when hunting. Unless you're a Master it's best to never face a vampire. Why did you ask anyway?"

Katara shrugged. "I was just curious. After what you told me of werewolves, I wanted to know about the myths and legends of vampires. I don't need to ask about witches since Sokka and I have a book that's like an encyclopedia." Katara rambled on. It was like a nervous gesture or something.

"Oh." I said simply. Well the moment passed to ask Katara out. I mean how romantic would it be that after you discuss about bloodsucking monsters you ask the girl you've gone crazy for out on a date? It wouldn't. We descended into a somewhat awkward silence and I was thankful that we had brought homework with us or else I probably would have done something stupid just to break the silence. Out of my peripheral I could see Katara doing the same thinking face she had earlier. It was making my already wane concentration on my homework deteriorate even further.

Her scent was intoxicating and once more I found myself fighting with my inner wolf. This is frustrating the more I fight with myself the harder it is to contain the wolf. It was on a one track mind, constantly in the back of my head chanting one word: Mine. Isis I don't know how I'll be able to handle the rest of the school year if I don't do anything about it. Why am I so nervous? Why can't I open my big mouth and just ask her out already? I like her and if her pheromones are anything to go by, she's attracted to me too. "Aang?"

"Y-yeah?" I stammered out, good job Zheng.

"The library is going to close in fifteen, I'm gonna head home. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Before my brain even had a chance to process anything, my mouth opened up and said "I'll walk you home." Wait, what?

"Really?" Katara asked surprised

"Er-yeah, I wanna walk you home." I felt my cheeks grow slightly hot and I was rubbing the back of my head. Stupid nervous gesture.

"You don't have to Aang." she blushed lightly. Damn there's that adorable blush again.

"I want you-er want to! I want to." Katara's blush was more profound and I could feel my cheeks heat up even more. Way to go Aang, slip up!

"Thank you Aang." She packed up the rest of her things into her backpack and waited for me to finish.

It was another cloudy day here in Redwood. Though that was quickly becoming the norm since summer had now passed; the first of October was on Monday. Meaning we were quickly closing in on Hallowe'en, it was a spiritual holiday for all supernaturals. On a more important note, this Saturday was the full moon. With each passing day I felt it's call grow stronger. Yue's powers also grows stronger as well, she's more spiritually connected to the moon than anybody else in our pack. I wonder if Katara would be interested in riding with the wolves once more. She had the time of her life the last time.

I suddenly came to the startling realization that besides her love for family, nature, magic, and studies I knew nothing really personal. "Katara, what's your favorite color?"

"What? Green, why do you ask?" her nose looked cute when it was scrunched up...damn I'm in trouble.

"I figured if we're gonna be friends we should get to know one another more." I reasoned

"So we're playing twenty questions then?" Katara smiled, Isis I love her smile. Gah! Get a hold of yourself man, any sappier and I'll sound like those non-realistic perfect boyfriends one would read in novels.

"Yeah, my favorite color is orange."

"Orange? That's a random color."

I shrugged. "Well it reminds me of the autumn leaves that would fall off the trees back in Virginia. Your turn."

"Okay...what do you like to do in your free time?"

"Drawing." I responded immediately. "I sometimes also do tattoos. Not often, but I have done some of June's. There's one of a black and white wolf next to a large black wolf."

"You can do tattoos?" Katara asked in astonishment.

"Yep, it was one of the things I wanted to try when we first moved from the east coast!" I boasted. "If you want maybe I can give you or one of your friends a tattoo."

"Me? Oh no, my Dad would kill me if I ever got a tattoo. My brother and Toph had always wanted one. I think Suki secretly does too but she doesn't want to admit it to me. Alright your turn." We continued to play twenty questions on the way to her house. I learned that Katara hated History but that was mainly due to the teacher Ms. Kwan. Her favorite number was eleven for some odd reason. She loved reading, swimming, and riding giant wolves. That last one was an obvious jab at me.

All too soon we were at the front doors of her house. The sun was halfway past the horizon, making the clouds turn pink and orange. "Thanks for walking me home Aang." she started playing with her hair, and a light blushed spread across her mocha colored cheeks. Her scent change to being nervous and a deep want. It made me shiver down my spine.

"No problem Katara." I didn't notice how my voice changed, but I did notice how Katara subconsciously shivered and took a step closer to me. I could feel her body heat and her scent swirling around me, enticing me. Her blush deepened as she gazed shyly up at me. Her deep blue eyes were hypnotic, they had this way of drawing me ever closer. "Isis you're beautiful." I whispered. She ducked her head, embarrassed to be under my intense gaze. Without thinking of the consequences I lifted her head by the chin, then cupped her face. Such soft cheeks. She leaned into my touch and covered my hand with a small one of hers.

My heart was beating erratically, my stomach felt like it was in knots. My nerves nearly got the best of me. I've never kissed a girl before, never really had an opportune moment, and I wasn't sure where to go from here. "Aang..." Isis, hearing Katara say my name like that, with such want! I slowly inched closer to the young Aquamancer, giving her time to pull away in case. She did the opposite and leaned forward, our eyes closed just before our lips touched in a first tentative kiss. Her pink colored lips were plumped and soft, so soft. I felt this strange electric feeling rush from my lips throughout my body that left me speechless.

We both broke apart, resting our foreheads against one another and sighed deeply. "Wow..." she breathed out

"Yeah..." Is it possible to become breathless after one kiss? I knew I had a goofy grin on my face but I honestly didn't care. Feeling more confident I leaned in for a second kiss. Katara slid her arms around my shoulders and stood on her tiptoes. Feeling bold I gently grabbed hold of her waist and brought her body closer to mine. I couldn't get enough of her, she smelled, tasted, and felt wonderful in my grasp. _She's finally mine_. The more aggressive side of me thought. My heart raced, I felt as though I was on fire I felt like I was drowning in all things Katara. A moan, from whom I don't know, sent vibrations down my spine. I've never wanted someone more. Every kiss we shared was just as addicting, if not more, than the previous. I had no sense of time with her, I could have been standing here for hours and wouldn't have known.

Vaguely I felt the light drops of rain on the top of my head and shoulder, then more came down with each passing second, until finally it was raining. That didn't stop us from kissing, I actually didn't mind kissing in the rain. Though I had to wonder, how was it we were getting wet when we were under a roofed porch.

Curiosity got the better of me and reluctantly I pulled away from Katara's kiss swollen lips. "Uh Katara, you're making it rain." I chuckled.

"Oh, oops." with a wave of her hands, the rain cloud disappeared. "Sorry." she blushed. I swear her blushes alone are gonna be the death of me.

"Just as well, I don't think your Dad would appreciate coming home to see his daughter kiss some boy." I teased

She giggled softly. "Yeah he wouldn't" she started to play with the hair on the back of my head. It felt soothing to have her fingers run through my shaggy head of hair. "Look at that, the wolf likes to have his head scratched."

"Yeah, it feels good." I moaned. She grinned coyly up at me and gave me a peck on the lips.

"I better get inside, before my brother comes barging out here." Katara said reluctantly

"Okay." I didn't let her go though, and it looked like she didn't want to leave my arms. I really liked holding her. Finally she took a step back from my embraced and I felt a slight chill from the night air. "Goodnight Aang, I'll see you tomorrow."

"G'night Katara." I kissed her soft cheeks and smiled playfully down at her. "I think I'm becoming addicted." she rolled her eyes at me, but smiled at me nonetheless. "Listen, I was wondering if I could, maybe, sorta, take you out on a date, after school on Friday?"

"Sorta?" Katara asked amusingly.

"You're not gonna go easy on me aren't you?" she shook her head no. I cleared my throat and tried to calm my nerves. "Will you go out on a date with me this Friday?"

"Yes I'd like that." she gave me a quick peck on the cheek. "Good night Aang." Katara picked up her back pack and went inside.

"Yeah..." I repeated for what felt like the hundredth time that night. She said yes! The most beautiful Aquamancer I've ever laid eyes on said yes! I was on cloud nine, and felt like jumping high into the sky. I was in high spirits and was whistling an old Aeromancer folk tune while on my way home.

The others were already in the kitchen serving themselves some dinner. Good I didn't miss it, they rarely leave leftovers. The moment I walked into the kitchen I was met with a bunch of knowing grins from all of them. Shit, they can smell Katara's scent on me. "Sooo...how did 'studying' go?" Azula grinned mischievously.

"Alright guys." I rolled my eyes.

"Studying? So that's what it's called now huh?" Et tu, Yue?

"Some studying. Did you make the first move?" June asked

"You guys aren't going to leave me alone until I tell you, aren't you?"

"Not a chance Airhead." Zuko replied, even the Alpha was enjoying this. "Our little brother is finally growing up!" Ever the mothering Zuko. Note the sarcasm.

"So how was it?" Lu Ten asked

"Yeah don't hold out on us Casanova." Haru teased. I swear the moment any of them starts to date I'll bust out the baby pictures.

"C'mon guys, I don't kiss and tell." I felt myself blushing. Shit not in front of June or Azula!

"What's the point of making out, if you can't rub it in everyone else's faces?" Lu asked "Right honey?" he looked toward his mate.

"Couldn't of said it better myself Sugga." the two traded looks that suggest more than kissing was going to take place tonight. Gross

"Tell us or you won't get a piece of the egg custard tart Yue and I made." Haru threatened, June looked strangely proud at the obvious blackmail.

"You wouldn't." I gasped in horror. They couldn't do that, they know how much I love egg custard!"

"Not unless you tell us pup." June smirked

"...you're all an ass." I muttered

"I know I feel so terrible. Bad Azula." she couldn't have made that sound more sincere if she tried.

"Alright, alright you damn hellhounds I'll tell ya." There were a series of chairs screeches as they all moved closer, eager much? So I proceeded to tell them from the moment Katara and I left the library and couldn't stop the stupid goofy as grin when I briefly described the multiple kisses Katara and I shared. I was still high on euphoria, I couldn't believe that I was finally dating Katara. I hope I don't screw up on our date this Friday, this girl is special and I don't want to mess it up. Still Friday couldn't come fast enough.


	16. Chapter 16 Autumn Equinox Festival

**Chapter 16 Autumn Equinox Festival**

Normal POV

Friday snuck up on the young Aquamancer. The whole week had been a rather hectic one between classes and lessons with Master Hama. The lessons with the woman were challenging but rewarding. However they had come to a little snag in their lesson plans. Hama was unbelievably surprised when she discovered that Katara had healing abilities. Even more so when it turned out that Sokka had the same abilities. According to Hama it was rare for a witch Aquamancer to have healing abilities, even rarer for a wizard. The fact that the Ahote siblings had such gifts made a very flustered Master. Unfortunately for Hama she did not possess healing abilities, luckily her Grandmother name Yugoda was a healer. Hama had already called her Grandma and was pleased that Yugoda was more than happy to help teach the Ahote siblings.

One crisis averted Katara now had a new one. "I have no idea what to wear." she muttered. She paced back and forth in her room and four pair of eyes followed her every move.

"Clothes would be best." Mai the ever helpful Goth supplied.

"No really? I thought showing up in nothing but a towel would be appropriate." Katara snipped

"Not on the first date Sweetness." Toph grinned Katara groaned and flopped onto her crowded bed.

"You know it would help if you told us what exactly you and Aang are going to do." Suki said, Ty Lee nodded energetically.

That was the problem. Katara would then have to spew out half truths while trying not to look guilty. Lying had never been her strong suit. She couldn't very well tell them that Aang was going to take her to some magical town he lived for a few months because there was some sort of festival. Katara wondered how other Halflings (half human, half supernatural being) handled living in both worlds and having to lie completely to one of them. "Well Aang told me to dress casual as we would be going to a festival in another town." that wasn't a lie. She just couldn't very well tell exactly where the two were going.

"A festival? Do you mean the Pumpkin Patch Festival in the next town over?" Ty Lee asked "I used to love going there as a kid!"

"That's later in October Ty Lee." Suki responded. "What type of festival is it?"

"An Autumn festival. Aang said he wanted me to dress casual as we would be walking around a lot."

"Well then what about that new pair of jeans you got last month?" Toph groaned and muttered why she was even here.

"Because it's punishment for not telling us you and Teo were an item over the summer." Katara replied before she went rummaging through her closet to look for said jeans.

"Make sure to wear a blue top. You look good in blue." Ty Lee supplied helpfully.

"No make it red! It'll make you more sexy." Suki interjected.

"Just kill me now." Toph pleaded to Mai.

"If I have to suffer through this, then so do you." Mai replied boringly. "Just make sure you're warm. It's already cold out and the sun isn't setting yet."

"How did your Dad react when you told him you were going out on a date?" The girls could here Katara huff angrily from the closet. She pulled out two long sleeve shirts, one red and one blue.

"Dad did the whole overprotective Dad thing. He literally showed up at Aang's house and subtly threatened Aang if I didn't return home in one piece. I was so embarrassed when Aang called me. He never did that for when you and Sokka started going out!"

"That's cause my Dad threatened to cut _it_ off he ever found out Sokka and I were having sex." Obviously Mr. Chen wasn't at the house often enough. Toph chuckled.

"Please let me be there to witness that if it ever happens Ninja Chick."

"I'll call you so that you can have front row seats." Suki rolled her eyes.

"Can we get back to what I'm going to wear please!"

"The red one." all the girls chorused

The doorbell rang at exactly four o'clock. Katara rushed to the front door before any of her friends decided to reach for it and give Katara and Aang a hard time. Unfortunately all of them crowded behind her, including Sokka and Teo. The young Aquamancer opened the door to reveal a surprised Aang. Aang had on a navy blue v-neck shirt, black jeans, and boots. His hair had been cut and no longer hanged in front of his eyes. He was also holding a small bouquet of blue and purple flowers.

Katara was aware how unique his eyes were but to see them without Aang's hair obscuring her view, she was mesmerized. They were a storm gray color and reminded Katara of rain. "Hello Katara...and friends of Katara." Aang said to the group behind her.

"Hiiii Aang." the group sang teasingly.

There was a light blush on Aang cheeks. He held out the bouquet to Katara. "These are for you." he spoke softly. A chorus of 'oohs' made Aang turn beet red. Suki took hold of Katara's flowers and went to go put them in a vase.

"Okay we're leaving!" she grabbed hold of Aang's hand and pulled him away from her friends. _Traitors_. she thought. "Sokka we'll be back around eight or nine." she called out over her shoulders. "Sorry. My friends are..."

"Crazy?" Aang supplied helpfully. Katara smacked him playfully on his torso.

"I was going to say unique."

"Uh huh." Aang smiled down at Katara. "So have you ever been to an Autumn Equinox Festival?"

"Not really. I know it lasts for a few days because Suirauqa has been having these events. But Sokka and I never joined the festivities as we have to practice before Dad get's home. He still doesn't know that we're receiving training. There's never a right time to tell him, he's always sleeping in his room or at his office."

"Well then you're in for a treat. There's parades, fireworks, reenactments, games, lots of foods, rides, and dancing!" Katara giggled as Aang reminded her of Tom-Tom whenever he gets excited.

"How long does the festivities last?" she asked

"The first day is actually on the Autumn Equinox. That day is more spiritual, many, especially Aeromancers, spend the whole day fasting. Offerings are given to the Spirits of Air, as thanks for good harvest. Priests or monks give prayers and bless all who come for a good and safe season. After the first day the next seven are more festive, celebrating the continuation of life."

"You seem to know a lot about this just for being some werewolf." Katara looked pointed at the tall man.

"I think you know by now I'm not exactly a normal werewolf." Aang grinned

"And what exactly are you?" Katara poked.

"...if I tell you, you promise to keep it a secret? You can tell your brother seeing as we'll be working together to catch a witch, but no one else." Aang spoke seriously. Katara had a sense of foreboding but was too curious to pay too much mind to that part of her brain. "Have you ever heard of the White Lotus Movement?"

"A few times. Something about unifying the magical world yes?"

"Exactly. Well when that happened some of the beings decided to bond...my pack is the product of such. We're hybrids, half wolves, half mancers." Katara's head was swimming with questions but she didn't know exactly where to start. While hearing about a supernatural being bond with a human was a common occurrence she never heard of 'hybrid' supernatural beings. Why was it she had only heard about them now? How segregated really was this hidden world? Was this the reason why Aang and his siblings were orphaned, why they were currently hiding in the human world instead of one of the settlements?

"Is being a hybrid a bad thing?" Katara asked tentatively.

"According to Magus Law. I'll explain everything later, for now let's just enjoy our date. That reminds me." Aang leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Katara's lips. Katara eagerly responded and wrapped her arms around Aang's neck. He pulled the Aquamancer closer to him by her waist. Katara could feel a satisfying growl and moan run down her spine and made kissing Aang all the more enticing. "You look beautiful Katara." he whispered.

Katara blushed and ducked her head away from his piercing gray eyes. "Even when I'm only wearing jeans and a shirt?" she said playfully.

Aang gave her the goofy grin that she was quickly falling for. "I don't know what you are talking about. Whatever you wear makes you look beautiful to me."

Katara giggled. "Smooth Aang."

"I try." Aang shrugged. The couple had walked for few more minutes in the forest before they came up to the familiar lake. "Ready?" Katara nodded and was excited to see yet another Mancer Town. She wondered what part of the country she would end up this time. Aang took hold of Katara's hand once more and said "Pisces!" the strange sensation of being sucked through a vacuum cleaner yet walking through mist came upon the two sorcerers.

They landed on a landing rune circle on a relatively small island. Katara stared in awe as she realized that they were now somewhere out in the ocean. The light sea breeze ruffling through her hair and the smell of the ocean made Katara feel at ease being so closed to her element. Aang gently tugged Katara out of the rune circle just as another group of sorcerers appeared behind them. It was then Katara took note of where they were heading to and she felt her jaw go slack.

Secsip was by far larger than the forest town hidden in Oregon. The buildings were interesting as they looked to be made of beach stone with blue and green dome roofs. It reminded Katara of the magical towns she would read in stories when she was little. Katara had also noticed multiple bridges were leading to the city from other rune circles. Each bridge was teaming with sorcerers coming and going. "Secsip is a few miles off the coast of Southern California."

"We're near California?" Katara asked in shock.

"Yep. This is one of my favorite places. It is one of three cities in the US that holds sky bison racing. You'll see some of that later."

_Sky bison racing?_ The term buffalo wings suddenly had more meaning than just food to Katara. Katara was able to make out the festivities as they got closer to one of the many entrances surrounding the town. As they walked by two burley men guarding the gates, Katara felt a cooling sensation run down her body. "They're wards to make sure only sorcerers are getting in." Aang answered the questioning look on her face. "You get use to them. Welcome to Secsip." The place reminded Katara somewhat of the skyscrapers in New York city, only they didn't have bridges and walkways at every level. There were a thousand people in just this section alone!

"This place is amazing." Katara breathed out. Banners hung on every surface, confetti in fall colors rained down on the happy people. Many officials were corralling the people onto higher levels and Katara noticed that many of the food and game stands were being closed. "What's going on?"

"I don't believe it, we came just in time for the sky bison races!" Aang said excitingly. Katara fed off the excited energy and found herself anxiously awaiting for the race. Aang led Katara all the way up to the mid-level of the city; it had taken only a few minutes with all the magical transports placed. "This is the best place to watch the races." Aang informed Katara as he led her to a balcony that was connected to a restaurant. Many people were inside deciding to watch the race on the mirrors instead of outside.

Of course Aang had pointed out that jumbotron size mirrors were placed about the track so the people could watch the whole race. "The people inside are just afraid to get blown away by wind."

"Won't that happen to us?" Katara asked nervously. She had no intentions of flying today.

"Not if I do this." Aang grinned slyly and wrapped his arms around Katara's frame. "See this way you won't get blown away." Aang spoke lowly in Katara's ear.

"You were planning for this weren't you?" Katara smirked as she leaned into Aang's chest.

"Maybe..." he responded before kissing the Aquamancer deeply. _Isis_. Aang thought. He was quickly becoming addicted to kissing her, holding her, just talking to her made him feel so alive. It made him feel proud that he had the chance to even hold this amazing girl. He had to be very lucky that Katara wasn't seeing anyone when him and his family arrived to Redwood.

"I think I'm becoming addicted to kissing you..." Katara said breathlessly.

"Me too." Aang replied. As he was about to lean in for another enticing kiss, a large horn sounded throughout the city eliciting thousands of cheering people. "Damn mood killer." Aang groused.

"You look like a sad puppy just then." Katara giggled

"Maybe a kiss will make me feel better?" Aang waggled his eyebrows. Katara gave the werewolf a peck on the lips before turning her attention to the mirrors across from them. "Tease." Aang said playfully. Katara winked at her date and with it came a mirthful smile.

The mirrors showed a rather pudgy middle age man with rosy cheeks and green eyes full of laughter and joy. "Omecwel ot hertano eamg fo..."(_Welcome to another game of..._) the announcer went onto continuing explaining excitingly of another Autumn Equinox, Sky Bison Racing also known in Sora as Racenbiso (_Bisonrace_). There were five contenders that stood behind him. The youngest one was a girl with short cropped hair and looked to be around Aang and Katara's age. The oldest was a man in his mid twenties. Katara found it intriguing that the man had a bald head and arrows down his head, arms, and legs. In fact all five of them had sky blue arrows down their bodies.

"That is the sign of a Master Aeromancer. You earn your arrows and the right to own a sky bison." Aang explained. "I mastered the art when I was eight. I never got the chance to get my arrows." Katara new there was a story behind that but decided now wasn't the place or time.

"So a Master huh? I bet I can still take you on." she said smugly

"Oh?" Aang lifted a brow. "Well then Miss Ahote I would be honored to see you kick my Aero butt, but we're about to watch a race." he replied in a teasing tone.

"Excuses." Katara said flippantly.

The broadcaster had just finished calling out the racers names, the last one being Malu. The man then signal for the gong to ring and Katara watched in disbelief as the Aeromancers jumped off the bridge behind them and landed on large fury beast! Each one looked to be weighing roughly ten tons, had six legs, a paddle-like tail and an arrow running down their spine. On the side of each animal was a large tag with a number ranging from five to ten. Even more impressive, the large animals were hovering!

Before Katara could question how it was possible the gong rang again and the bisons took off at high speeds. Number seven had taken the lead and Malu was a close second. The sky bisons were surprisingly agile while flying. The streets were wide enough for three bisons to fly side by side and they were taking advantage. In Sora the broadcaster was telling the excited crowd the first ring was coming up. It was a large floating ring in the center of the track and looked large enough for only a person to jump through. The lead had done just that, he jumped from his bison's head and through the large ring. It sparked and released a sound closely resembling wind chimes.

"The rings represent points. You come in first its four, second three, and so on, last place it's zero." Aang had explained quickly, then went on cheering on as Malu took first place. The rings were placed on every level of the city and Katara let out an excited gasp as the racers did nose dives to the lower level of Secsip to jump through a ring that was only ten feet from the ground. The bison pulled up around thirty feet and racers aeromanced themselves through the rings and onto the heads of their bisons. "You can't touch the ground. Wicked moves!" Aang cheered. Both were cheering for Malu as she was their age, and for Katara she was the only girl competing.

The wind started to pick up and the crowd started to brace themselves. Aang's arms tightened around Katara's waist and he shouted over the wind. "Brace yourself Sweetie!" Katara's heart stop at the term of endearment and she was ashamed to admit that she giggled like a school girl...even though she was one.

The exciting roars of the bison enlighten more cheering from the eager audience. In rapid succession the bisons flew by and the wind blew through everyone's hair. Some people had lost grip of the scarves and caps. Down the road a ring was placed directly underneath a bridge and Malu was the first to jump through followed by number three. In the end the bisons raced around the city three times and number six was made victor followed by second place that was Malu.

Aang proceeded to show Katara the neighborhood where he and his pack had stayed while living in Secsip. The neighbors had seem to remember Aang fair enough and a lot of the older women insisted in giving Aang and his 'lady friend' treats. Aang was happily munching away on some sweets at Katara's amusement. They stopped at every few concession stand and played variety of games. Katara won a waterspout game and gave Aang a stuffed flying lemur. "I always wanted one." Aang grinned happily. Aang won the next game as it was a ring toss, the catch was that the sticks moved at random. This didn't deterred the Aeromancer and Aang ended up winning a plush polar bear-dog. Katara gave him a quick peck on the cheek for that.

They stopped for a few minutes to watch some small children play a game of aeroball. The strange looking ball flew out the field at one point and headed straight for Katara. Before she could react it had been deflected by a blast of air back onto the field. Katara was astonished as it was the first time she had ever seen Aang use aeromancy. "Smooth move Airhead." Katara teased

"What no thank you kiss?" Aang pouted, full puppy eyes in affect. Katara found that she could no longer resist those eyes when they did that.

"C'mere you." she pulled Aang down to her height and kissed him fully on the lips. It was official, she was addicted to kissing Aang. The couple broke apart blushing when they heard a group a small aged girls giggling. Their parents gave Aang and Katara knowing grins before ushering their daughters away.

Their next stop was at a plaza, a crowd of onlookers stood in a circle clapping rhythmically with the music. There were a team of dancers. Seven men and seven women. They were all dressed in traditional Aeromancer clothes and dancing lightly on their toes. Katara was entranced on how the dancers looked as though they were dancing on air and were twirling and spinning gracefully around one another. "They're dancing Eht Cenda fo Ria." (_The Dance of Air_) Aang spoke softly in Katara's ear. "It tells the story on how the Air Spirits came to be and help breathe life onto the planet, the day of the Autumn Equinox. After dancing around the center pole a few times they then pull people into dancing with them. They don't care if you are not the best just as long as you are giving you're all and having fun."

Soon the dancers were dragging in some of the onlookers, some with reluctance, and though they were not as graceful or light on their toes they still had a fun time. One of the women dancers twirled up to Aang and Katara and pulled them both into the circle. "Aang I can't dance." Katara whispered nervously.

"Don't think of it as dancing, think of it as practicing your aquamancy moves but without the water." Aang said encouragingly. He gently took hold of her hand and pulled her gently into the dancing circle. Aang held their hands above their heads and the couple danced in a circle, one arm behind his back. Katara copied his movement and returned the soft smile that Aang was giving her. Aang then spun her around on her toes; bringing forth laughter from the Aquamancer. The couple was dancing slower than the others but were having fun all the same. Their dancing consisted mainly of twirling around each other, brushing hands, and looking fondly at one another.

Katara noticed that they were slowly dancing closer to one another, for the moment it was only Aang and Katara. She was lost in his eyes, and his in hers. They were unaware of the looks they were getting from the viewers or that the music had slowed down to accommodate the couple. All Aang knew was that he was dancing with the most amazing girl he had ever seen his life. She looked ever graceful as she danced in circles with Aang twirling her hands above her head, randomly spinning on her toes, her hair flying back. It was like a game between the two, they would dance closer until they were only inches apart and then would spin away from each other. Aang had not notice that he was now bending ribbons of light or that Katara was bending ribbons of water that followed the two dancers.

They were now clasping hands and dancing in a slow circle, their elements flowing lazily around them. Aang stopped Katara and she looked up with confusion but then blushed under the look Aang was giving her. He brushed back a bit of her hair from her face then slowly bent down and laid a passionate kiss on her lips. Their hands still clasped and their respective elements still circling them, the musicians finished their song and the crowd broke into enthused applause.

Katara was blushing madly and gave many thanks to all that were praising Aang and her for their dancing. The other dancers especially were ecstatic as they rarely see an Aeromancer possess lucemancy abilities.

With the sun gone, the majority of the city's citizens were sitting on blankets at the west side beaches. To end the Autumn Equinox Festival a firework show was on display. Many were of mythical animals roaming about the nighttime sky. The brilliance of color and magic put Katara at awe. The final display was of a sky bison and flying lemur flying about before exploding into a rainbow of colors.

Katara and Aang were heading back to one of the rune circles. Aang's arm was around Katara's waist. "Did you have good time?" Aang asked with a knowing smile.

"Not bad...for a first date." Katara smiled up at Aang.

"You're never gonna go easy on me are you?"

"Oh don't be so upset, you got the girl after all. Seriously though, I had a great time. The best really." Katara said excitingly. "When is the next holiday?"

Aang chuckled. "Hallowe'en, but I'm hoping to have a second day long before that time."

"Already asking? Kind of presumptuous, seeing as we haven't finished this one." the young girl teased.

"As if you're really going to say no?" Aang asked knowingly.

"...you win this round." Aang smiled and gave a kiss on her cheek. "I think I'm getting addicted to those lips Aang." she said again. It was a wonder really, Katara normally wasn't one to show such public displays of affection. Yet she couldn't help herself. There was just something about Aang that made Katara's body do weird things.

"Good 'cause so am I." Aang whispered in Katara's ear. He gave her one last peck on the lips before saying "Doowder." and the mancer couple was whisked away.


	17. Chapter 17 Abduction

**Chapter 17 Abduction**

Normal POV

It was rare for the Goth known as June Agni to be seen with tears in her eyes, let alone have it accompanied with a watery smile. For the past few weeks June had not been feeling the best and found herself drinking more tea to soothe her upset stomach. Her mate wasn't aware of this, no one was except for Yue. And that was by accident. Nevertheless Yue was in constant worry of the Alpha Female and had been keeping tabs on June, much to her annoyance. It wasn't until earlier today when Yue had asked June when was the last time her 'monthly gift' came by did June began to suspect that maybe her sickness was something else entirely.

June had waited all day to go to a pharmacy, by herself, she had no need for Yue to follow her everywhere, and the perfect opportunity arrived after school. The rest of the pack was too busy teasing Aang about his date tonight that she managed to slip away unnoticed. All afternoon June had been working up the nerve to go into the bathroom and take the pregnancy test. June didn't know how to feel about this.

She knew that being bonded to the Alpha one day she would bear his children, but the thought was always a passing moment. For the longest time June was unsure if she would even be a good mother. Her parents weren't exactly caring...her old pack wasn't for that matter. It was different now, she had a loving and strong mate and five annoying brothers and sisters she cared deeply for.

Back onto the subject at hand June held in her wavering hands a pregnancy test, it was positive. She was going to be a mother. June felt such giddiness, a little person was now growing inside her. And no matter how weird that sounded, June didn't give a damn. It was her body and she could say whatever the hell she wants, thank you very much! The door opened and in came in Lu Ten. "Babe, you've been in here awhile. Everything okay?" Lu Ten looked concerned as he saw the tear streaks on June's face. He rushed into the bathroom and gathered his mate into his arms. "June?"

"I'm fine Lu...everything is fine." she held out the pregnancy test up for the golden eyed werewolf to see. A look of shock that then morphed into pure joy came across his face.

"June, you're pregnant?" Lu Ten asked hopefully

"Yeah...we're going to have a baby." Lu shouted in joy and twirled his mate around a few times before peppering her with kisses.

"I love you." he said breathlessly

June gave a rare soft smile in return. She was filled with joy and relief. June knew that this pack differed greatly from her old one but it made her feel at ease to know that she finally found someone to cherish and love her. "I love you too Lu Ten."

Redwood was resembling more and more of a ghost town as the sun began its descent behind the horizon. Parents were leaving early from their jobs and rushing to pick up all their children before returning to the safety of their homes. Many of the shops and restaurants were closing early. Doors were locked, blinds were shut and the citizens were sitting, waiting in fear in their homes. While such fright sickened the Chief Officer Hakoda Ahote, it gave the Dark Witch sick pleasure.

Currently the Dark Witch stood at the edge of the small town. She was only mere feet away from the perimeter wards. _The wolves hold many secrets indeed._ the woman pondered. The Apprentice was hard at work carefully breaking down the wards. They were strong the Master will admit, but she was stronger. By the time any of the supernatural beings were aware of her presence she will be long gone. The child will finally be in her clutches."It is done." the Apprentice spoke.

"Good." the Master walked up to where her Apprentice was standing and surveyed her work. "Excellent, you will wait here until I come back with the newest catch." the Apprentice nodded and stood to her full height and surveyed her surroundings.

The Dark Witch placed on a white half mask on her. It covered the top half of her face and only had a red third eye painted and carved into the center; it had no eye sockets for the woman to see. Though it did not matter for the Master, the moment the mask was placed on her face the areas where the eyes should be glowed an eerie blood red color. The Master pulled a black hood over her and all that could be seen was the three glowing eyes. Without another word, the Master ran off into the shadows.

"...and they lived happily ever after. The end." Mai spoke quietly, her brother Tom-Tom was now sleeping peacefully in his bed. "Good night Tommy." she left his room and gently closed the door behind her. A mask of indifference settled over her face the moment Mai faced her Mother. As always her Mother had a look of impatience and Mai could tell that if she could, she would yell. "Yes Mother?" Mai drawled uncaringly. She had just finally put her little brother to bed and she would very much like to retire to her room for the rest of the night.

"What is this I hear about you talking to the boy with the hideous scar?" Mai sighed and rolled her eyes. She was used to this type of behavior from Ama Quon, the woman was pretentious when it came to the family appearance. Everything Mai did was wrong according to her Mother.

"If you mean Zuko, we're just friends." Mai wasn't going to bring up that Tommy looked at Zuko like he was a superhero. Her Mother already knew that most likely, the woman had a knack for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong.

"That boy and his family are bad news, Mai. Being seen associated with them will ruin our image, especially when your Father is trying to start a campaign to become Governor of Oregon."

"I'll keep that in mind Mother, goodnight." Mai closed her door on Ama's face and finally sighed in relief and sagged against her door. "Just a few more months and I'll be out of here." she muttered to herself.

Meanwhile downstairs in the kitchen, the nanny, simply named Beatrice or Betty for short, was currently digging away through the fridge. Mai had given her the night off, the sweet thing, and the woman had the sudden urge to eat ice cream. The woman was middle age, had gray hair in a bun, and kind hazel eyes. Betty had no children nor grandchildren of her own and that was the reason why she had been a nanny for many years. She had just pulled out a large tub of vanilla ice cream when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand. There was another presence in the dark kitchen, Betty was not alone. She gasped in horror, body frozen with fear, when she saw a figure with three glowing red crimson eyes standing across the room.

"D-dear Lord..." Betty whispered in horror. She grasped tightly her crucifix necklace tight in her fist and held it before the creature of Hell. The being tilted its head to one side, like that of an inquisitive child, and rushed up and barricaded the woman against the wall.

"Your _God_," the woman sneered. "cannot help you now." Pain, horrible and excruciating pain shocked through Betty's body. Her muscles contracted it felt as though she was being stabbed with knives all over her. She could only stare in horror as she saw the creature's claws imbedded deep into her chest, past her ribcage, and scratching the surface of her heart. Betty's blood was running up the creature's arm and it was absorbing her blood. The nanny felt light headed, weak, too weak to even call out for help or warn the others. Before her now stood an exact replica of Betty only with an ill placed sadistic smile. "Where's your precious God now, I wonder?" the Betty lookalike questioned

The Dark Witch pulled out her hand from the woman's chest and watched in fascination as the nanny slid down the wall; a trail of blood in its wake. The nanny crumpled onto the pristine floor and gave one final breath before succumbing to her injuries. Blood continued to pool around the now dead woman while the Dark Witch watched without pity. However as much as she would love to stand around and watch a corpse rot, the Dark Witch was on a tight schedule. The longer she stayed the more at risk she was running into the wolves. Time was already pressed with the now dead woman in the kitchen. Looking back the Master didn't necessarily had to kill the middle aged woman, but her blood was just _delicious_.

Tom-Tom awoke in fright. He just had a nightmare and was too afraid to leave his bed. He wanted his big sister or Betty, they always made him feel better. The door slowly creaked opened and Tom-Tom sighed in relief when he saw Betty poking her head into the room. She looked mildly surprised that Tom-Tom was still up but smiled kindly at the little boy. "Aren't you suppose to be sleeping?" Betty asked knowingly.

"I couldn't sleep. Bad dream." Tom-Tom said sadly. Betty walked into the room and sat down on Tommy's bed, she wrapped her arm around the small boy's shoulder. Tommy shivered for some unknown reason, but he wasn't cold. Confused Tommy shrugged it off and turned his attention back onto the nanny. "Can you read me a bedtime story?" the little boy mumbled

Betty smiled assuring the kindergartner. "I got one even better." Tommy looked up excitingly "How about I sing you a lullaby."

"You can sing?"

Betty laughed quietly. "I have a lot of secrets Tommy. Just lie back and relax." Betty twirled her hand in the air and gathered water droplets until it resembled mist floating above the palm of her hands. Tommy's mouth dropped in surprised and was quickly enamored with Betty's new abilities. The mist began to pulse yellow and was sprinkled over the giddy boy. Betty then began to sing in a soft, melodic voice, in a language unknown to the boy. His eyes grew heavy and he was trying to fight it to hear the rest of the pretty song.

_"Sleep now precious child._

_Let your dreams run awhile. _

_Gaze at the stars with all their charms._

_Be safe, rest strong in my arms._

_Be at rest little one._

_Now the day is set and done._

_Never fear terror or fright._

_I will be here throughout the night."_

The little child was now in a deep slumber, he wouldn't be disturbed until she said so. Grinning in malevolent victory the Dark Witch morphed back into her old self and gathered her new conquest into her arms. It was just so tempting to just drink in the child's soul right here and now, but she needed all of her strength. The Master had only just made it to the balcony when she heard a cry in horror. Someone had discovered the corpse down in the kitchen. She jumped down the second floor and ran through the large backyard. She cut through another property and took off into the forest. The Dark Witch was unaware that she had attracted the attention of two supernatural beings.

Toph had snuck Teo into her room a few hours ago. She was lucky that her room was on the first floor and that her parents go to bed early. The couple were snuggled upon her king size bed, watching some show. Just as Toph was about to slip into slumber, a foreign and unknown scent passed through her nose. She was now wide awake and alert, Teo was growling. An intruder was passing through their yard, a powerful and deadly sorcerer. Grabbing hold of her mancer ring from the nightstand the two ran through the patio in time to see a woman in cloaks running, at inhuman speeds, into the forest holding something. "Teo-"

"On it." His muscles bulged, hair sprouted in patches all over, clothes were shed and in place of Teo was now a large light brown werewolf. He stood on all four of his paws and knelt before Toph. She hopped onto her mate's back and the pair ran off after the witch. Toph raised her arms, chunks of earth flew to her and she projected to the witch. The unknown assailant could sense them coming and with quick agility the woman maneuvered out of the projectiles. The witch jumped onto the branches until she reached a good height and turned to face the werewolf and Terramancer.

"What the fuck..." Toph gasped. The witch smirked and hailed down ice javelins at the unsuspecting couple. Before they could meet their targets a man riding on mist flew above Toph's head interjected and threw them back to the witch. It exploded in an icy passion and the Master took off once more. "Sokka?" Toph shouted in shock.

"We'll talk later, the witch has a kid in her grasps!" He formed a mist cloud once more and flew off after the sorceress.

"Faster Teo." Toph commanded. Elements were thrown back and forth between the two factions. The witch was faster and more agile than first thought. To Toph's surprise the witch was able to easily scale a wall of stone that erected only mere feet from her. "I can't pin her down, she's too quick." Toph called up to Sokka. The young Aquamancer was sending everything he had in his arsenal, but it was limited as he didn't want to risk injuring the child.

"Can you turn the ground to quicksand?" Toph gave an affirmative and the ground became liquid underneath the Dark Witch's feet. She was sucked down to her waist. A flick of her wrist and a tree branch encircled her form and pulled her free from the mud. The witch finally turned around and face the coming three.

"I grow tired of this!" the woman hissed. A broad sweep of her arms and the trio were tossed into the bushes.

"That...bitch!" Toph lifted one foot and stomped angrily onto the floor. The ground quaked and cracked up to the fleeing woman. The woman swung onto a lower branch and flew into the clearing with the lake. She looked over her shoulder once more and failed to see two more people materializing from nothing. A feral cry from Aang and the Dark Witch was blown back to the trunk of a tree.

The witch made an 'oomph' noise and balanced herself against the very tree she was thrown to. She finally got herself onto her feet and surveyed her opponents. Aang and Katara gasped in horror as they saw the three glowing crimson eyes. The witch cackled madly and the group slowing encroached on the Dark Witch. "I wouldn't if I were you." the woman grinned insanely. She held the small five year out for the group to see. The Ahote siblings, Toph, and Teo gasped in horror.

"Tommy..." Katara said in horror. Angry tears welled up in her eyes and ice was forming around her fists.

"Shh, the poor thing is all tuckered out." the Dark Witch crooned. The Witch looked behind the group of five and saw six more approaching; one of them was a black and white werewolf. "Looks like I get to meet all of Redwood's little creatures." Zuko took notice of Tom-Tom in the demented witch's arms, growled and made a step forward. Lu Ten restrained the irate Pyromancer and turned his attention back to the masked woman.

"Give us the child." Lu Ten ordered.

"And what would I get in return?" the Master asked inquisitively

"A merciful death." Zuko growled.

"Now that doesn't seem to be a fair trade." she pouted, before laughing darkly. The sound sent shivers down Katara's spine, and not the good kind. "I know none of you have the strength to defeat me, so the threat is meaningless." she turned her attention to the Ahote siblings and then to Yue. "Though some of you would do well under my mentorship."

"We're not here to listen to any crap you have to say!" smoke was literally emanating from Zuko's mouth, his body tensed

"Ooh, is this boy special to you?" she smirked knowingly. "How touching." she sneered. "And here I thought _hybrids_ didn't feel for such a thing." Most of the people bristled at her tone. "One step closer and I kill the boy!" the Master snapped toward Sokka

"Who are you, what do you want?" Azula asked. Like the rest of her pack she stood poised and ready for battle.

"Oh I was so hoping one of you would ask." she smiled sadistically. "I am called Master Nukpana, a member of the Warlock Coven. And if your faces are any guesses, you've heard of my coven. As to what I am doing here, I am simply looking for lost souls." she held out a claw like hand and brought everyone to their knees. Muscles and bones twisting and clenching against the owners' wills.

"The-fuck!" Haru gasped.

"Now this is what is going to happen, I am going to leave...and you are going to stay here. You should be thankful that I don't kill you here and now. But you have made this much more entertaining." she grinned widely at the looks of loathing sent her way. "Oh don't look so sad, what kind of guest would I be if I didn't leave you a parting present?" she lifted her hand above her head and mist that gathered turned green then a violent shade of purple. "Adydr's! I llca no uoy ot od ym llwi! Llki, Llki emth lla!" (_Dryads! I call on you to do my will! Kill, Kill them all_) She yelled in Sora.

Various trees began to twist and turn. Bark was splintering, roots were uprooted. The trees began to take humanoid form. Their bodies still resembled greatly of trees. The dryads came in various shapes and sizes. Some had horns, others tusks, some with four arms, others had digitigrade legs. Their eyes and the water between their rough skin glowed green before turning into the same shade of purple as the mist in Nukpana's hand. There were six dryads that were awaken from their slumber and each stood at a rough estimate of ten feet tall. Roars tainted with anger and hate reverberated throughout the clearing, scattering birds and other woodland animals.

Nukpana grinned wickedly and saunter into the forest's shadows until only her three eyes were visible, then they too vanished. In control of their bodies once more, Zuko sprinted off in the direction of the dark witch. "Look out!" he was tackled by Aang just a demented dryad stomped on the ground where Zuko once stood.

The dryads encircled the wolves and mancers, cutting them off from the deserted witch. "Yue, can you break the witch's control over the dryads?" Lu asked. The Aquamancer's eyes and hair were glowing white and she focused her attention at one of the approaching dryads. It's movements became stiff and rigid. The water running through its veins glowed white before finally turning back into a green color once more. Haru caught Yue as she collapsed from exhaustion.

"I don't have the energy to do the others. Nukpana's magic is abnormally strong." Yue spoke wearily. She turned her attention to the now free dryad. "Lphe su." (_Help us_) The dryad grunted and then sucker punched the one closest to it.

The others momentarily distracted, a bolt of lightning came forth from the Alpha and struck one in the chest. It collapsed, then with surprising agility jumped into the air and came hurtling down, Lu somersaulted backwards and kicked a torrent of flame at the creature. The dryad blocked the fires with its forearms and boomed a feral roar.

Taking this as a command the other four rushed to the group. Sokka and Katara stood sided to side fending off one the dryads near the lake while Yue was in the water gaining strength. The two werewolves assisted the green dryad in attacking the one with tusks. June nipped and clawed at the legs, jumping to and fro avoiding the trunk legs. Teo had jumped onto the back biting and clawing viscously at the shoulders. With one arm fending off the other dryad, the tusked one grabbed Teo by the scruff of his neck and tossed him to a nearby tree. The wolf's ribs cracked on impact, his fall was cushioned by a puff of air from the Aeromancer.

June ran in between the battling dryads and up to Teo. _"How bad?"_ she asked in Lycan

_"My...ribs...broken."_ June turned around and stood protectively in front of the injured werewolf.

Aang looked to be dancing around the four armed dryad, sending air slices and punches to the creature. Easily distracting the creature and making it all the more vulnerable to Zuko's attacks. The infuriated Pyromancer sent kick and punches to the creature's side. Zuko then took a firm stance and sent a large fireball to one of the dryad's arms. It burnt off and fell to the ground with a loud thud. The dryad roared in pain and anger and slapped Zuko into his sister meters away. Aang air boosted into the air, ribbons of dim light following him, and sent down bolts of light through the dryad's chest. Followed by a powerful air kick to the face and the creature was struck to the ground.

Toph and Haru were fighting the dryad with a series of horns placed on its head. The dryad had taken to using its horns as a defensive and offensive weapon. It was easily crumbing any form of earth sent its way. Toph and Haru stood on opposite sides of the demented nymph and both bent earth columns. Finally the creature was knocked off its feet and Toph formed herself rock armor and charged head on to the dryad. At the last second the dryad turned its violet eyes at the petite girl and head butted her over its body. Toph landed strong and together she and Haru raised a column under the creature and brought it crashing down. The dryad now unconscious the two Terramancers buried it under the soil.

Flames of orange and cobalt were seen fighting the dryad with the digitigrade legs. Azula stood on the left and Lu Ten on the right; Zuko had already gotten up from his fall and was continuing to assist Aang. This dryad was the fastest and most agile of the group and was able to avoid the offensive attacks. But Azula was faster. Lu Ten was mostly distracting the creature and Azula would then zoom in and out of the dryad's personal space cutting deeply into the bark. "Azula when I tell you, send lightening. The dryad is mending itself!" Lu commanded. The two Pyromancers were able to lead the large dryad away from the rest of the battle until it was behind the edge of trees. "Now!" he bellowed. The crackling sound of lighting echoed and so did the cry of pain emanating from the dryad. A large burnt hole where the chest used to be proved fatal to the dryad. It collapsed with a thud, the bark turned black and a putrid smell filled the wolves nostrils as the dryad rotted away.

The three Aquamancers were pushed back into the lake fending off a dryad. They skimmed the surface of the lake and kept sending water whips and streams its way. Yue's water strangely glowed white every time it was under her control and had more of an impact against the dryad. The Ahote siblings wrangled both of the dryad's arms, as it brought them down, with water and pinned the creature. Yue's held glowing white water in her hands and she propelled across the water and up onto the dryad's chest. She placed said hand onto the center of the dryad's forehead and it collapsed partly into the lake, unconscious. "It's knock out, but only for a few minutes, Nukpana's will is strong." Yue panted. The horned dryad erected from the earth and knocked the two Terramancers into nearby trees, rendering them unconscious.

"Toph!"

"Haru!" the trio rushed forward and projected ice chunks at the creature, followed by ice water to its legs to knock it off balanced. Katara and Sokka managed to form an icy dome above the two sorcerers and was able to withstand the dryad's punches. The ice began to crack however and the next punch made the dome shatter. The next incoming punch Katara bent the water in its arms and it snapped backwards. Crying in shock the creature failed to notice a low slice of white water coming its way until both of its legs were sliced off. Sokka drove pointed ice through its chest; the dryad was killed.

The tusked dryad had finally taken down the green dryad. It laid dead as its body slowing turned to foliage. The tusked one turned its attention to June and the injured Teo. June bared her teeth in warning and pranced back and forth snapping her jaws. The creature continued to encroach upon June. A tinge of fear made its way through the Alpha Bitch, the others were still fighting their own dryads. She couldn't take on this one alone. June emitted a feral roar, hoping to discourage the demented dryad. It didn't. June now stood protectively over the injured werewolf as the dryad came closer and closer. A war cry was heard from behind the dryad. It turned its head to the source of the noise to see Lu Ten fire boosting into the air and then a large fire ball burnt the whole head of the tusked one. It was the last to have fallen.

All but one of the dryads had been killed. The one in the lake was now encased in ice and held strong by the Ahote siblings. It was grunting and struggling and made hisses at the white haired Aquamancer. Yue stood some feet from the dryad in the water and her hair and eyes began to glow. The dryad struggled even harder until the purple water behind its bark like skin turned white. After a few moments the water turned to a green color once more and the dryad was finally free from Nukpana's influence.

It was freed from its icy prison and the dryad looked around at its fallen brethren. A loud sorrowful and anguish cry echoed across the forest as the dryad wept in despair. Toph and Haru were now helping a human, nude Teo onto his feet. There was blue and purple bruising along his right side. Katara sat wearily between her brother and Aang, she felt hollow, a failure. Tom-Tom was gone, kidnapped at the hands of a Dark Witch. There was nothing any of them could do now, the witch had long disappeared to a place unknown. It was all hopeless.

They had lost Mai's little brother, the only person in perhaps the whole world that could easily break through her barriers. Katara stared determinedly at the area where Nukpana walked off. Aang and Sokka both looked at her gaze and thought similar thoughts. "No Katara." Aang spoke gently

Katara turned her head angrily to the Aeromancer. "What do you mean 'no'?" she shouted angrily. "You don't expect me to just stay here, while Tommy is in the hands of a that crazy ass witch do you?"

"Katara I know how you feel, Tommy means a lot to me too. But we are in no condition to fight a witch that can literally bring us to our knees." Sokka spoke

"Then what are we suppose to do now, nothing?"

"We're going to see Mai. She'll need all of her friends...and whatever Zuko is to her." Toph invited herself into the conversation. "And then, the four of us are going to have a talk." she looked pointedly at the Ahotes.

"We're all going to have a talk." the Alpha spoke. "You three can go to your friend." he looked to Toph. "Your mate will be fully healed come morning." he led the pack to their home. Aang lingered behind and looked questionably at Katara.

The Aquamancer gave a grim smile. "I'll be fine, go, look after your brother."

"Alright, I'll call you." Aang gave a quick kiss on the lips and ran off after his pack. The three mancers stood in around in awkward silence.

"W-we should go." Katara said shakily, her eyes became wet; as did the other two. They walked off toward Mai's house, Katara looked over her shoulder once more. _We'll find you Tom-Tom...I'll kill Nukpana, if that's what it takes._


	18. Chapter 18 The Warlock Coven

**Chapter 18 The Warlock Coven**

Katara POV

The seven of us were sleeping in the den, we had all congregated to Ty Lee's place. It was early in the morning now, the sky a miserable gray. I was still sore, every muscle in my body protested at the slightest of movements. I ignored them. Wearily I sat up from the tangle of limbs and blankets, the others were still sleeping...Mai was missing. Groaning at the muscle aches, I made my way over to the kitchen, Mai was most likely there.

Sure enough the girl sat at the island table, a mug of coffee cupped in her hands, eyes bloodshot and there were dark rings underneath them. She looked miserable. She made eye contact with me before shifting her gaze back to the granite countertop. "Would you like anything Miss?" a servant walked into the kitchen. The idea of servants and maids and butlers always made me feel uncomfortable, I was very well capable of pouring my own cereal in a bowl. However I had learned the hard way not to get between a servant and their job.

"Just some tea is fine, I don't care what type." I responded tiredly. The man gave me a sympathetic look then began bustling about the kitchen. "Hey Mai." I spoke quietly, the Goth inclined her head slowly. An uncomfortable silence fell between us, Mai wasn't much of a talker to begin with, but now with her brother in the hands of a psychotic witch this silence from her was painful.

"Did you sleep well?" Mai rasped

Images of those eyes, those blood red eyes and the demented dryads haunted me every time I closed my eyes. "No."

"Hmm, the others will be up soon?"

"Most likely." I responded. The man sat down a mug of tea in front of me, I thanked him before taking a small sip. The tea was a mild comfort. "Where did your parents stay?" I asked tentatively. Last night Mai and Mrs. Quon had gotten into a shouting match, the woman was in despair and angry and as a result she took her frustrations out on Mai. Mai was just as mad as her Mom and started to shout back. It all dwindle down to how Mai was an ungrateful child and Mrs. Quon a distant Mother to both Mai and Tommy.

My heart ached just thinking about the little bubbly boy. He was only five years old! He was the only one that had ever got past Mai's barriers and got her to smile freely, without reserve more than once. He was the kid brother of our group and we rarely complained about babysitting the hyperactive boy. How could we not, with those big eyes and that smile it was hard to say no or stay upset. Now he's somewhere out in the forest, Mai doesn't know any of this. She doesn't know that her brother's abductor was a witch nor that we were so close in rescuing Tommy and the elusive woman slipped through our grasp.

"Don't know, don't care honestly." Mai replied bitterly

"Mai..."

"Don't Katara." Mai sighed heavily. "Just don't, I'm not in the mood for it."

"You guys couldn't sleep either." Toph spoke as she walked into the kitchen, Teo trailing stiffly behind her. I was then reminded of the secrets that Toph and Teo were not as they seem also. Toph was a Terramancer, and Teo a werewolf. It was surreal, all these years we've been friends and there is this whole other side to them that I was never aware. How could I be? Our world was literally shrouded in myths and legends. I had so many questions, when did Toph find out she was a Terramancer, how did Teo become a werewolf, did he become one this past summer and that's why he's changed so drastically? It was frustrating that I had these questions, and yet I couldn't ask them because Mai was sitting right here. Judging by the inquisitive look in her eyes, Toph was thinking similar thoughts.

"No." Mai finally answered, she looked up at Teo and raised a brow. "Are you okay, you're walking a little stiff."

"I slept wrong." Teo lied easily. More workers came into the kitchen and promptly kicked us out into the dining room so they could prepare breakfast. One of Ty Lee's sisters was already sitting in one of the chairs, a book in hand. That had to be Lien, she was the straight A student and has been getting a 4.0 on her report cards since middle school. She was a genius, but she was snobbish about it and considers everyone beneath her attention. For instance we've been in this room for five minutes, not a 'hello' or a 'good morning'.

The others slowly trickled in, as well as Ty Lee's other sisters. The table was crowded and uncomfortable; mainly because of the sisters. All were rather popular among the students at high school, while my friends and I not so much. Now this normally doesn't bother me, but with my emotions all over the place due to Tommy's disappearance their attitudes was really grating my nerves. How does Ty Lee actually put up with her sisters? Finally Mr. and Mrs. He sat down at the table; Mr. He of course sat at the head. Breakfast was rolled out on carts by the servants and placed onto the table. "Thank you for having us for breakfast." Suki said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. Mr. He smiled politely and inclined his head in our direction. At least someone at the table had manners.

Thankfully breakfast was a short, painful affair and the six of us were out in the back. Though we wouldn't be out here for long; heavy clouds and steady wind were signs of an approaching rainstorm. For the first time the silence in our group was awkward and uncomfortable. How do you go on acting like everything is alright when obviously it wasn't? What could any of us possibly say to Mai that doesn't sound like pity? "Have they told you what happen?" Suki asked

Mai blinked owlishly as though she was just now only waking up. She looked over to Suki blankly and shook her head. "All I know is that Betty was killed, and the kidnapper left through our yard. They won't tell us anything else. Tommy was taken around the end of the football game I think."

"Damn..." Suki muttered. With the exception of Sokka, none of us were big football fans; Toph was more into soccer. So the only ones at the games would be Suki, Ty Lee, Sokka, and whatever other friends he has. The girls had to be at every game because they were cheerleaders. "I'm sorry Mai, if there's anything we can do to help, let us know alright?"

"Thanks." Mai spoke shortly. "...I need to be alone right now, I'll talk to you later." My friends and I looked at one another with uncertainty, nevertheless we respected Mai's request and left her alone in the yard.

We sat wearily in the den again. "I've never seen her like this, ever." Ty Lee said sadly "I think she's shutting us out."

"It's how she deals with issues Ty, give it a few days and she'll seek us out." I spoke

"But this isn't like the regular stuff she deals with! It's not another argument with her Mom, Tom-Tom is gone! He's been kidnapped by a murderer and we don't even know if Tommy is still-" Ty Lee cut herself off. The ending of the sentence hung heavily in the air. It was something I didn't want to think about, Tommy could have already been killed by Nukpana or worse. I can't think like that, I won't think like that. It was killing me, not knowing. I didn't know what horrors that faced the abductees. Part of me didn't want to know, that it would do no better to bring me the peace of mind that I desperately crave.

This was slightly different from when my Mom died, at least with her we knew what happened and there was a body to bury and therefore closure. The uncertainty is worse, every moment there is a chance that Tommy and the others would be alive or dead somewhere. It's even worse to know that their lives were now under the mercy of a witch that spellbound dryads to do her will. "We should go home." I spoke to Sokka. "Dad will start to worry if we don't return soon."

"Alright, Suki you want me to walk you home?" Sokka asked his girlfriend

"I think I'll stay with Ty Lee for a bit longer. You go on ahead, my parents will pick me up later."

Farewells said and done the two of us left the estate. We soon heard a pair of footsteps following us and turned around to see Teo and Toph following us. "I think we need to talk." Toph said sternly. And wasn't that the understatement of the year?

"Let's head over to the others' place then. I think we all need some answers." Sokka said significantly. Can't blame him, though Sokka and I were new to the supernatural world we knew that Aang's family were not normal werewolves. Then there was the fact that Toph was a witch and Teo a werewolf. When and how did Teo become one? His parents couldn't be werewolves as well, otherwise there would have been some sort of confrontation between the two earlier.

Sokka and I had no clue where the pack lived, but the other two had a good sense in direction. It appeared that they were just following the wolves' scent. There was no way Toph could smell them too right? Did Teo turn her into a wolf as well? Was she a 'hybrid' now? All of this is just too much for me now. I was starting to miss the days where Sokka and I were not aware of magic, and just thought we were like the mutants in those X-Men comics.

We walked up the pathway to a mansion that was a little a ways from the rest of the town and closer to the forest. Before we even had the chance to knock, one of the double doors opened to reveal Zuko. He looked just as blank and lost as Mai did. I never realized how close Zuko was to Tommy until that very moment. "Thank you for coming." he rasped before leading us into his home. Unlike Ty Lee's or Mai's, whose home was set up for showing off, this house was warm, homey. The living room didn't look like one of the pages from the name brand furniture stores, but rather an assortment of mismatched furniture.

The rest of the pack was in the living room sitting or sprawling on various couches and armchairs watching television. They all took notice of the five of us entering and Lu Ten turned off the TV. His gold colored eyes stared piercingly at us. The way he sat in his armchair, and the look he was giving us, there was no doubt in my mind that he was the Alpha of the pack for a reason. "I'm putting a lot of trust into the four of you. I normally don't let strangers into our home, let alone those that could potentially harm us."

"You have nothing to fear from us, we're in your territory and there are more of you than there are of us. If anything it should be us that should be wary." Toph spoke. Lu Ten sat there contemplating for a few moments before he gestured for the four of us to sit down in whatever seating was available. The four of us stuck close to each other and I found myself sitting between Aang and Sokka. Toph never one for beating around the bush spoke first. "So you're hybrids." her voice sounded uncharacteristically soft, hopeful even. Teo wrapped his arm around Toph's shoulders and squeezed affectingly.

Lu Ten looked look to Toph curiously, he too caught something in Toph's tone in voice. "Yes, with the exception of my mate, we're all hybrids. We're the last of them alive."

"Last ones? What do you mean exactly?" I asked confusingly

"Remember how I said that being a hybrid was bad according to Magus Law?" Aang spoke. Warily I nodded. "Any hybrid found is either executed or sent to Bermuda Prison for experimentation."

"What?" I shouted affronted. "There is no way that can be legal! It's inhumane!"

"Well we're not exactly human now aren't we?" Azula said sardonically. "You have no idea what type of world we really live in do you?"

"Apparently not." Sokka muttered. "Okay so what if you guys are hybrids, Katara and I don't have a problem with that. I mean it would be almost hypocritical seeing how we're halflings."

"You would think. But the Magus Government has no qualms with supernatural beings mating with mortals, frowned upon yes but not illegal. You've noticed by now that our world is severely segregated." Lu Ten spoke. Of course we noticed. Though both Sokka and I find Hama awesome and fun to be around, there was no mistaking that she held a deep dislike for shapeshifters. Something that Sokka and I found a little uncomfortable, so we never bring up any other species around her. "What do you know of the White Lotus Movement?"

"It was a peace movement. Our Mom was part of it." I answered

"Really? Interesting. Is she still around?" June asked

"No...she was killed in a car crash." Sokka spoke quietly. Lu Ten traded suspicious looks with both his mate and his beta. I didn't like those looks, it only further proved that there was something more to my Mom's death than just a car crash. But I can't focus on that again, I've already promised myself that I would no longer get hang up on her death, I needed to move on.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Lu Ten spoke finally.

"What does the White Lotus have to deal with that crazy witch? I don't know if you've noticed, but she's terrorizing the town and picking her victims at random!" Teo shouted

"It's not at random." Yue spoke evenly. "Nothing, this woman does is at random. The White Lotus plays a major deal in all of this. The four of you weren't raised in our world and therefore aren't as aware." she said sternly.

"Yue is right. I want you all to listen closely. The White Lotus Movement lasted for two decades almost, it started in the early eighties. It was how this pack was formed. My Father and his brother were bother Pyromancers; immigrants from China. It wasn't long before they joined the White Lotus and one day my Dad came across a small pack of werewolves; they were severely sick and were the last surviving members of their pack. It was later learned that they were poisoned by a rogue wizard.

"But something good did come of it, my Dad and my Mom. The five banded together and travel to all the magical settlements across North America. Doing sit-ins, peaceful protests, and they met and made many friends of all types. One day my Dad's younger brother came across three young witches that were having problems with some vampires. Two of them would later join the family a few years later, while the third went off to a mortal college.

"During the White Lotus Movement, it was quickly becoming common to see different beings become bonded and if possible become hybrids or their offspring are then hybrids. The Magus Government was quickly angered by the comingling of different magics, according to them it would greatly upset the Spirits. Though the leaders were all different beings and could tolerate one another, they found our existence to be an abomination.

"Rather than getting their hands dirty with 'tainted magic' themselves, they would hire bounty hunters and assassins. Most of them came from a dark coven of sorcerers known as the Warlock Coven. The Warlock Coven are true practitioners of Dark magic, they often wear masks like the one we saw last night. Three glowing red eyes shows that the woman is a Master, meaning more likely than not she has an Apprentice somewhere nearby."

"How are you so sure about this?" Teo asked skeptically

"My pack and I have run into many from this coven. Part of their mission is to teach the next generation of their practice, so that it never dies. Not much more I could really tell you, their identities are always hidden, so they could be anyone and they never reveal their real name unless they're about to be killed and they're trying to curse you. You never let a member of a Warlock Coven finish their Mortem Oath. Had it not been for Yue's quick thinking, I would not be sitting here today." June shifted uncomfortably from where she sat.

"You've run into a few? What happen?" I asked

"We killed them." Zuko spoke grimly

"Kill?" I sat back in shock, they couldn't be killers. They were all the same age as us for Christ's sake! How bad did it have to get to the point where they had no choice but to kill? How many have they killed? Sokka, Teo, and Toph all had similar looks to mine. I couldn't see how one could take the life of another, I couldn't picture me doing that either, I feel guilty just even thinking about it.

"We're not suppose to exist, Katara. That coven has every right in the law to either capture or kill us. And often times they tried to kill us so that they could capture our magic. Even though the Magus wants us dead, they have to admit our magic is unique. We're stronger and our magic more powerful than the average, we're a threat to them. But the Warlock Coven is a threat to my pack, my family. We're all that's left, I will kill anybody or anyone that threatens us. And if that makes me a murderer fine, but you cannot tell me that after last night you would not do the same thing." Aang spoke sternly, I could tell that the rest of his pack agreed.

Memories of last night went through my head. _We'll find you Tom-Tom...I'll kill Nukpana, if that's what it takes._ Aang was right, I would kill Nukpana to get Tommy back. I have _killed_ already. The dryads at the lake that were defending the Master, did I not take them down because they were between me and Tom-Tom? I couldn't judge Aang or his pack for only defending their lives when I and my friends did the same thing last night. "You're right...you're right Aang, I will kill Nukpana if it means getting Tommy back alive."

"Same." Sokka spoke

"Ditto." Toph replied, Teo only nodded but the look in his eyes left no doubt that he was more than willing to kill the Master for Tom-Tom. "So what now?"

"We find her, capture her and her Apprentice, kill them both and my family and I move." Lu Ten spoke, he turned his attention to Toph and Teo. "You two are welcome to join us."

"What?" The four of us questioned.

"Toph, she's a hybrid like the rest of us." Haru spoke. "Your scent is somewhat familiar."

"Familiar? What are you guys yapping about?" Toph was on edge. Sokka and I felt out of place, Toph was a hybrid like the rest of Aang's family? So did that mean that she was the one that turned Teo? It would explain the dramatic change he went through over the summer.

"I remember faintly of our sister pack, before we lost contact with them. Your scent is similar to Kyoshi's, and seeing as you're also a Terramancer we can only assume that she was your birth mother."

"...you knew my birth parents?" Toph suddenly reminded me of a small frighten child.

Normal POV

Master Nukpana smiled gleefully at her new puppet adorning her cabin wall. He really was such a sweet child, and like she predicted his soul was _sublime_. And now the game had suddenly added new players. The hybrid pack and the Ahote siblings, both had strong and interesting magic that was just so tempting to the Master.

The next few weeks were sure to be entertaining. And when her ritual was complete and she invincible, their magic would soon become hers. Maybe if she was lucky the Master could somehow turn the Ahotes into her new Apprentices. Not that her current one needed to know. Speaking of which..."I grow tired of your pacing, Apprentice. Say what you want or get out of my sight." the Master commanded

"...the child." the Apprentice finally spoke. "He is but a little boy! He does not deserve such a fate!" the Apprentice yelled

"Fate is for the weak." Nukpana responded. "I would have thought by now you would have learned such a lesson."

"That still doesn't change the fact that you targeted such a young child. He is defenseless, they are all defenseless! This whole situation is wrong, unnatural-"

"Unnatural? Unnatural you say, what we are doing is part of the cause, unnatural are the filthy _hybrids_ that have somehow survived the decimation and are now running amok in a mortal town. It is they who are unnatural, tainting our precious magic!"

"I-I don't think I can stomach this any longer. I cannot watch you hurt innocents to further your own gain." She was thrust back against the wall violently from a powerful surge of raw magic. The Master laughed manically at her prone Apprentice.

"You act as though, you've had a choice in the matter. You have forgotten your place Kya, I'm the Master and you're just an Apprentice. Perhaps I have been too lax these past few years." A mask, similar to Nukpana's, appeared in her hands. "I think Soyala, should take your place once more, don't you?" she grinned maliciously. The Apprentice was pinned magically and no amount of struggling would free her from the Master's grasp. The three eyed masked was placed on the woman. Her struggling ceased and her eyes glowed purple. "We have a deadline." Nukpana spoke avidly. "All ten souls must be collected by the next full moon. You are my apprentice and therefore you are mine, your blood is my property. You follow my orders without question. When I give the command to kill the hybrids, you do so _without_ question. When we suck out their magic from their fresh corpses, you do so without _question_." the Master hissed. "Have I made myself clear _Soyala_?"

The Apprentice stood up onto her feet once more and gazed impassively to Master Nukpana. "Yes Master." the Apprentice intoned.


	19. Chapter 19 Forewarning

**Chapter 19 Forewarning **

Katara POV

"Aquamancy is more than just making splashes. It is the bloodline of life. Without water there would be no plants, without plants there would be no air, and without air, life on this planet would not exist." An elderly woman name Master Yugoda spoke to us. It was an early Sunday morning, Aang and his family were still sleeping in after their night running about the forest, and Sokka and I were at Hama's place sitting in the backyard, watching the sun slowly rise. Though Hama herself didn't possess healing abilities, her grandmother did. Yugoda was a kind, old woman that had a fun attitude much like Hama.

In fact she made Sokka blush when we were first introduced to her earlier this morning. "Sokka, Katara, this is my Grandmother, Yugoda Yu. Grandmother these are two of my students. They're the ones I told you about with healing abilities." Hama informed her

Master Yugoda smiled kindly at the both of us. "Yes I simply had to come when you told me both brother and sister had the gift. So rare, of course with my abrupt departure your Uncle had this crazy notion that I was going to pick up some young man again." Yugoda looked over to Sokka, and he gulped nervously. "Of course I didn't know Sokka would be this handsome. Tell me young man, are you seeing anyone at the moment?" she sidled up to the flustered Aquamancer and squeezed his bicep appreciatively. Hama and I were hiding our fits of laughter behind our hands.

"Uh...I'm kinda seeing a girl...and it's serious." Sokka replied, his face a beet red color.

"Well if you're ever interested." she winked then laughed at Sokka's horrified face. "Oh calm down young man, I was only teasing. Though you are rather pleasing to the eye, and speaking of your eyes are so blue. Hm, it's no wonder you're already taken, she must have to fight off all the girls I bet."

"Grandma..." Hama warned

"Oh hush, let me have my fun. It's been awhile since I made anyone this uncomfortable!" she giggled "And you must be Katara, you're a very beautiful young woman. I hope some young man is treating you like a goddess." she winked, I rather like Yugoda, she reminds me of my Gran-Gran.

"Yes, he is." I responded sheepishly

Master Yugoda let out a loud laugh. "Good! Take notes Sokka, always treat a woman like the goddess she is. Now enough chit-chat, Hama you can go tend to your store. And do a good job, it was so dusty I thought a Terramancer had rampaged through."

"Ugh...yes Grandma." Hama muttered

And that led us to where we are at the moment. "Now there are different techniques when it comes to healing, all are acceptable but only with certain phases of the moon. The moon is very vital to Aquamancers, especially to healers. When the moon is full, little of our magic is required to heal, the energy the Moon Spirit provides us is so powerful, a handful of water could treat the most severe injuries without tiring you out. Where as a new moon, a number of healers would be required to treat a severe injury and lots of water is often used. Lucky for us that we can create water from thin air." Yugoda smiled knowingly

"Now my granddaughter as taught you the physical side of Aquamancy, how to defend yourself from attacks and some rather useful spells. But she hadn't yet gotten around to the spiritual side. As powerful we are, we must never forget to praise Tui and La for bestowing us with their gift. They have the power to give us aquamancy and they have the power to take it back. You should never take your magic for granted, there may be a day when the spirits become angry and seek to get justice. Am I making myself clear?"

"This talk of spirits kind of confuses me." Sokka admitted, I agreed with my brother. As far as I knew, spirits were just ghostly dead people that stayed in limbo, never moving on.

"Hmm, well we'll cover more on spirits next time. I would really like Hama to be here to teach the both of you on that, as she is your proper Master and I don't want to overstep my bounds. Now I want the both of you to sit in a lotus position." Master Yugoda instructed "Good now I want you to concentrate on the moon."

"The moon?" I asked "But wouldn't that be a little difficult, the sun is rising?"

"Ah, but the moon has not yet set." Master Yugoda pointed out. "And as it is, the moon is full, so you will have an easier time connecting yourself to her. Now close your eyes and concentrate on the moon's energy, her spirit..." Master Yugoda's voice drifted into the background.

At first I felt a little ridiculous, meditating was something I wasn't very fond of. But I did as Master Yugoda instructed and let myself relax. "...use your magic to feel the moon, feel her call. She calls to all of us, protecting us, we Aquamancers are susceptible to her call." It wasn't as hard as it use to be to feel for my magic. I had always pictured it as some sort of gem, stored away in my heart and that was my magical core. I was partly right, while the heart is the core to our magic, our magic runs through our body like veins and arteries. If I paid attention to it closely, I could hear it hum in tuned with my heartbeat. Slowly and unsurely I spread my magic from me to my surroundings. I could feel Sokka's magic brush against mine; he really was a powerful Aquamancer. Yugoda's was like a bright light and warm, it was comforting.

This was all overwhelming for me, magic was everywhere. I could feel it in the grass, in the insects, in the air, the sun, and then finally the moon. Her call was stronger than what I thought it would be. The moon made my magic hum more than usual, it really did felt as though the moon was calling me. Maybe even talking to me, though I couldn't understand the moon just yet. Somewhere I heard Master Yugoda softly say that when we become Masters we'll feel the moon without even needing to meditate.

I felt calm, protected, as though the Moon Spirit was personally wrapping her arms around me. I was surprised when I then felt a stronger tug in the back of my head. My first reaction was to fight the foreign presence. After the past few days I really didn't feel up to a strange presence poking at my brain, but my instincts had told me not to fear the foreign presence but to embrace it. The pull came back and this time I tentatively allowed the anomaly to pull me, a flash of light and it felt as though I was being sucked down a tunnel.

"Am I on the moon?" I looked around strangely, the ground before me was white and gray. And there were craters scattered across the ground in varying sizes. Part of me thought she was on the moon, but the sky told her something different. There were constellations I had never seen before, then there were these creatures of all shapes and sizes floating around in sedated paces. They looked like aliens, and I could see through their bodies. Some of them looked in my direction, but otherwise paid no attention to me. "Where am I?" A bright star slowly flew down to the moon and the other spirits scattered around its presence. Perhaps this star was stronger than the other beings and were intimidated.

What does that mean for me? The closer the star came, the more I could make out the details. It was a giant white glowing koi fish, with a large black spot on the forehead. Its eyes stared intently into my own, then it morphed into a tall woman! She was completely white, her hair, skin, everything except for a black spot at the center of her forehead. It was obvious to me now, that this was a spirit, a very powerful spirit. There was this ethereal beauty about her.

Her presence kept tugging at my magic, similar to the moon, and it was then that I made the connection. "You're the Moon Spirit." I spoke in awe, the woman nodded and a slight smile curved her lips. She reached out a hand and touched my forehead. It felt like I was being zapped and my eyes fluttered to a close.

I saw my Mom! She looked exactly as the day she died. "Mom? Is that really you?" tears welled up in my eyes and a hopeful smile spread across my face. She gave me this reassuring smile and held out her hand to me. Without even second guessing, I ran. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, my Mom she was here, she was alive! All these years of wishing, of seeing the sadness in my Dad's eyes no longer mattered. She was here, waiting for me. Just as I was about to grab her hand, she was consumed in a blazing inferno. The smell of burnt flesh burned my nose hairs and I was shoved back by an invisible force away from the blaze. I stared in horror and cried out as my Mom was rapidly consumed by the fire until there was nothing but a pile of ash. Before I even had the chance to process this however, something arose from the ash. Its body was shrouded in shadows that wisped around the edges, it was sickly thin and had long, jagged claws. I couldn't make out details of its face, only that it had three glowing purple eyes. I couldn't see a mouth but the creature made this weird clicking noise. It attacked and I tried calling on my magic to aid me, but I couldn't. The creature had me pinned to the ground, the claws digging into my forearms. Now I could see rows of razor sharp teeth as it was about to strike.

A gasp tore out from my throat and I fell back onto the grass. I heard a similar thud next to me, and saw Sokka sprawled on the ground as well. "What just happen?" he groaned.

"You both went into the Spirit World!" Hama said in amazement. My brother and I looked up to see Hama looking down at us, by now the sun was high in the sky. It must be nearing noon. "My Grandma was really impressed and worried. I've never been, but she told me that place is dangerous and unpredictable. We spent the last hour or so, trying to get the both of you out."

"Hour? How long has it been?" I asked

"Four hours, guys it's almost one o'clock. Look it's great that you manage to connect with the Moon Spirit but you have to be careful. If you go too deep into the Spirit World you can be trapped forever. I'm just glad we were able to get the both of you out."

"Where is Master Yugoda?" Sokka asked. I looked around and didn't see the woman in the backyard at all.

"She's really tired, even with my help, bringing the both of you out of the Spirit World really did a number on her. She's in her room resting. I think that'll be all for today, come back after school tomorrow and we'll continue with our lessons." The two of us bowed to Master Hama and left the studio. We didn't feel up to going home just yet so we decided to eat at a small seafood place. The food in the magical world was flavorful, there were many spices from magical plants that we never heard of that just made food all the more enjoyable.

The restaurant was at the edge of the Aqua District, I had gotten stewed sea prunes and Sokka had something called arctic-hen. Something was up with my brother, usually his food would have disappeared into his bottomless pit within fifteen minutes or less, today wasn't the case. "Sokka?" I placed a hand over his to get his attention "What's wrong?"

He said nothing at first and I thought that maybe he didn't want to talk about it. But then he looked up, his eyes looked troubled. Almost as bad as the other night...suddenly I lost my own appetite. "When you went into the Spirit World, did a spirit come up to you and showed you something?" he asked quietly.

"The Moon Spirit." I answered, I took a moment to gather my thoughts. I had shoved them violently into the back of my mind since it dealt with our Mom. "She showed me our Mom." Sokka looked surprised but motion for me to continue on. "She looked exactly like she did twelve years ago." I said fondly. "She held out her hand to me and I remember running to her, happy and relieved that she was really alive. But before I could reach she caught on fire and turned to ash, then out of the ash came this weird creature with three glowing purple eyes. It reminded me of the mask Nukpana had on." the both of us shuddered, the woman literally gave me nightmares. I can only imagine what Tom-Tom and the others must be going through. "It attacked me, I couldn't fight it and then I woke up on the ground." Sokka stared at his place pensively, he was obviously mulling things over.

"The Ocean Spirit came to me." he said "At first I thought I fell asleep and was having some weird Little Mermaid dream, 'cause I was underwater and there were these strange creatures swimming about. Then this black koi fish swam up to me and morphed into a merman..."

"Did he show you anything?"

"He showed me Mom, she was in Nukpana's clutches. I tried to run after them to save Mom from the psychotic witch, but a shadow stepped in front of me. I didn't know what it was, but it attacked me. That was when I woke up." Sokka finished. "The spirits are trying to warn us about Nukpana and somehow Mom was tied into this."

"You don't think Mom associated with the Warlock Coven do you?" I asked angrily. I may not know Mom that much but I know she wouldn't join such a coven after being an active member in the White Lotus Movement, would she?

"Whoa calm down!" Sokka held his hands up in surrender "I'm not saying she's in cahoots with the Warlocks, I'm just saying they were somehow involved with our Mom."

"So what, now you're saying that our Mom's death isn't accidental that she was killed?" I scoffed at the morbid hilarity, but Sokka's expression quickly dampened that. "You're serious." I whispered in horror. "You think Mom was killed."

"Katara I know you do too. And worse off, Mom knew she was going to die." I flinched at his words. "That letter she left to us practically spelled it out for us. First the letter, then some witch comes to terrorize the people we know and love, we find out she's part of this assassination coven, and then the Moon and Ocean Spirits shows us vision that both had our Mother in it. They were warning us Katara, why I don't know, but I'm tired of fighting this in the dark. The others gave us some information about the Warlock Coven but don't know much. Maybe we could find something in the spell book, it has information about everything else."

"Alright." We finished our meals in silence, paid then left. Instead of going through the spell book like planned, we were corned by an irate Gran-Gran. She was fussing over the state of the house and had us clean the whole house thoroughly while she made Sunday dinner. She had called the station and fussed at both Dad and Uncle Bato that they both better be at the table by seven if they know what's good to them. "Tomorrow, after aquamancy lessons." I whispered to Sokka as we were doing laundry. Even with our own washer and dryer, I still hated laundry with a passion. Especially folding.

The next day was like a circus. News cameras from all over the country were parked around Town Square and in front of Redwood City Hall. The FBI had taken over the Police Station and there were even some at school. Apparently they were grief counselors. As if I wanted some stranger poking around in my head. There were talks of a mass search and rescue mission from the police, firefighters, and volunteers. Aang and his pack were tensed this morning. Aang had told me how Lu Ten ordered that they were not to go into the woods as wolves with so many people walking about. Sokka and I had come to the same agreement when it came to practicing at the lake. It was also decided to just teleport to Suirauqa from our house and hope that the magical backlash doesn't create too much damage.

My brother and I had finally set a time for when we could properly speak with Toph. Just the three of us (Teo had some family event he couldn't get out of), it would be directly after our lessons with Masters Hama and Yugoda. And then we'll search for information in the spell book. All in all, today would be a busy day for my brother and I.

At lunch Aang and I spent our time eating lunch in the corner of the library. We sat in the same large plush armchair and Aang had his arms around me. It was better this way, I wasn't used to getting so much attention from the 'popular crowd'. It was ridiculous, why would they take sudden interest in my life just because me and a new guy were dating? High school, I will never miss this place. It was also a great hideout from Meng. It was weird, Meng was a quiet and sweet girl, and she would give me these looks of anger and loathing. It was nearly intimidating.

"So, were you born a hybrid or were you turned?" I asked curiously. I was playing with his hands, they were large compared to my 'ladylike fingers'; Toph's words.

"Born. Both of my parents were originally Aeromancers. My Mom was turned by Alpha Iroh, and my Dad and Aunt Iio were turned by my Mom." Aang responded.

"I didn't know you had an aunt."

"Well technically I had six aunts, but Aunt Iio was the only one of them related to me by blood...I never met her though. Our sister pack disappeared months after I was born." Aang said forlornly.

"Aang..."

"No it's okay." Aang was quick to reassure me. "I never knew them so it doesn't hurt. Lu was the only one out of us that knew them and actually remembers them."

"...So did Toph decide what to do when you guys leave?"

"No...Katara are you, you know, serious about this relationship?" Aang asked awkwardly. Oh he was so cute when he blushed like that. Made me glad that I wasn't the only blusher of the two.

"I thought I was, why?"

"I'm not having any second doubts." Aang was quick to reassure. "It's just...ugh this is complicated. You know relationships work if both are compatible?"

"Yeah?" Where was he going with this?

"Well, Alpha Iroh made the discovery that our pack loved differently than others." Aang rubbed the back of his neck. "Normal werewolves find their mates through scents. If the scent is alluring to both wolves then they bond, and are bonded for life. Sorcerers find their mates through their magic. Magic sorta has a mind of its own, so the magic between the two must be compatible. It doesn't matter if the two like each other, if their magic is not compatible they can never be together."

"What why?" I asked disgusted. Why wouldn't the high mighty Spirits allow the people who love each other to be together.

"It would be hectic. Their magic would never be calm and dangerous stuff could happen to them and anyone in their surroundings should they choose to bond. Their magic would be compatible as far as friends goes but nothing more."

"So how is it for hybrids?"

"Finding mates is difficult in the magical world already, for us it multiplies. Not only does our intended mate's scent need to appeal to us, but so does their magic."

"That'll make finding a mate much more difficult then I'm guessing." I clarified

"Exactly." Aang agreed

"Wait, so how do mortals come into all this? I can see them having a scent, but the magic part? How would that work if there is no magic to be compatible with?"

"Mortals have a little magic. Not enough to be qualified as magical beings, but enough to keep them alive." Aang looked down at me knowingly

"...Our souls?"

"Yep, our souls." Aang replied

"What does all of this have to do with our relationship?" I asked

Aang gave me a look that sent shivers down my spine and had my magic thump erratically with my heart...oh. "We're compatible, we could become mates if we wanted." I whispered. "Are you worried what will happen to our relationship if you and your pack have to leave Redwood?"

"Yeah." Aang said nervously. "I know we're nowhere near ready for that type of commitment, but I never felt this way about a girl before, anyone for that matter. I never really thought I would find you at a young age, and I'm happy, really happy you and I are finally together. I just worry what it'll be like for us when my family and I have to move."

"Oh Aang." I spoke softly. I rose up and gave him a tender kiss. One of his hands held the back of my head, while the other held onto my waist. I love it when we kiss like this, soft, unhurried, just simply enjoying one another. It made me feel like I was cared for, protected, maybe even loved. Though I was not even close to being ready to think those words let alone say them. Eventually the two of us parted for air and Aang gave me a quick peck on my nose, eliciting a small giggle from me. He had this thing of peppering my face with small pecks randomly, not that I'm complaining. "We can't worry about that. If we're really meant to be together, then everything will work out. If not, then at the very least I made a really good friend. But until then, you are my boyfriend and none of those other girls are allowed to touch you with their grubby fingers, understand?"

Aang chuckled at me. "You're cute when you get all possessive, you know that?" Aang kissed me lightly.

"Kissing me will not distract me from the question, no matter how good at it you are." I shot back playfully "You are mine and I don't like to share, got it?" I teased.

"Yes ma'am." Aang smile down at. We spent the rest of lunch period snuggled up on the armchair, trading sweet words with one another.


	20. Chapter 20 Tales of the Past

**Chapter 20 Tales of the Pasts **

Katara POV

Toph was pacing wearily back and forth in my room. I have never seen her this nervous or vulnerable, not counting when her parents are in town, before in my life. It was a reminder that underneath that tough exterior she projected to the world was this girl desperately trying to reach out and connect with someone in the world. Toph had come only minutes after we teleported back from our lessons with Masters Hama and Yugoda. Thankfully my room wasn't too bad from the magical backlash and would be an easy clean as soon as I get the energy.

"My parents and I became aware of my...anomalies when I was six years old." Toph spoke after a few minutes of tense silence. "It was a full moon, and I have been getting this fever for the past few days. My parents were so worried for me, they were even thinking about taking me to the hospital. But when the sun set, I experienced my first transformation...It was painful, I kept trying to fight it, Mom and Dad could only stare in horror and fear as they saw me become this hideous monster." Toph took a shuddering breath "I don't remember much of that night, I think I passed out from exhaustion.

"I woke up feeling like crap. My muscles and bones ached and it hurt to even breath. Mom wearily came into my room. I reached out to her, I wanted a hug, I wanted my Mom to tell me everything will be okay. She cringed, my own Mother was scared of a six year old little girl, I can never forget the look of fear in her eyes. The way she approached me like I was some rabid animal set to attack at any moment. It's never been the same between the three of us. We only act like a family at social gatherings. Dad didn't want the public to poke and ask questions about our family dynamic. They feared me, every full moon I was locked into the basement after the help left the mansion and stayed there, alone, all night.

"When they found out I could move the earth, they pulled me from school and had me homeschooled. I was not to ever leave the estate. I think they tried to send me back to where I was adopted but the placed had burned down. Up until high school I lived alone in the mansion while my parents went on 'business trips' for months at a time. I knew they were really just trying to get away from me. Though they couldn't just drop me off in the middle of the forest or something. Our family is too well known, and while they could get away with me being homeschooled or going on business trips, the tabloids would have a field day. They care more about their image than they do about me.

"I know I have limited time with them, I know when I turn eighteen, I'll be kicked out of the house and never allow to return. They'll finally be rid of me." Toph ended in a quiet voice, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Toph..." I reached out but she shoved her hand away from me.

"I don't want your pity, Katara. I know you mean well, but you don't understand. Your Dad still loves the both of you, even though he knows you're both Aquamancers. My parents think I'm a devil worshiper. The moment I leave, they'll adopt the perfect son to carry on the Bei Fong name."

"...you can't know that for sure." Sokka spoke hesitantly

"I know for sure Sokka." Toph snapped "I've seen the papers, they're interested in some eight year old kid from the east coast. They probably already adopted him and want to keep him away from someone as dangerous as me!"

"Toph-"

"Don't you guys get it? My parents don't love me, they're not even my real parents. They kept me all these years so that their precious image isn't tainted by the media!" she seethed "I thought that maybe if I tried to act like those fucking snobby girls at the social gatherings that they might take notice of me. No I come to find out, they only flew back because they heard the kidnappings and had come to see if I was somehow responsible in all of this. We had a lovely 'talk' last night.

"You should have seen their faces when I told them all that I could do. They were so convinced that I had been possessed by dark spirits. My Dad nearly called in a priest for an exorcism. Do you know how much it hurts to convince your own parents that you're not evil, that you only want what every child in the world craves? All I wanted was for my Mom and Dad to look at me without fear. To actually love me just because, and not because of their fucking image!" Toph shouted angrily and plopped down onto the bean bag chair.

"...Why didn't you talk to us?" I asked finally "We could have helped you through all of this. You didn't need to do this alone."

"I know that now, Katara." Toph spoke wearily "It's easier to know that I'm not the only one in our group from the other world. But I didn't know that a month ago, I was afraid you would all regard me as a freak and want nothing to do with me. I was already rejected from my parents, I couldn't go through that with my friends too. I wouldn't survive it."

"But you know now." I spoke softly "I can understand before you're hesitance. But now that you know we're sorcerers, I hope you can confide in us a little more too. You're like a sister to me Toph."

"Really?" Toph asked surprised

"Yeah, even if we argue all the time." she had a small grin on her face

"You know I'm already like the older brother in all of this." Sokka grinned

Toph snorted. "After the so-called threat you gave him when you first found out we were dating, I believe you Snoozles."

"How does Teo fit into all of this? Was he adopted too?" Sokka finally asked

"No, we've gotten really close over the summer. My magic felt as if it was calling to him, if you can believe that. Teo felt it too. I still don't know what possessed me to tell him all of my secrets like I was in some corny romance movie. He was a little weirded out for a few days, but he came around. I don't know...everything happened so fast. The wolf in me knew that Teo was my mate, and for once I didn't fight it. I was tired of being alone. Finally I had someone that knew all of me and wasn't repulsed or frighten. Teo did more for me, than my own parents will ever do, they've never acted like parents to me. I asked Teo one day if he would like to become a wolf like me. He said yes, so when the next full moon came around I bit him and watched him transform into a brown wolf.

"The morning after, the two of us consummated our bond." Sokka and I blinked in surprised. Toph didn't blush, nor did she speak with hesitance. She said it proudly and almost defiantly at us.

"Y-you both had sex?" Sokka sputtered, I could almost see the older brother radar going off in his head. I was a little worried for Teo, Sokka was nearly a Master Aquamancer, and even still he was powerful.

"It was more than just sex, Snoozles." Toph snipped "We made a permanent bond, he's might mate and I am his. In the eyes of the Spirits, technically we're married."

"What?" the two of us shouted. "Don't you think this is all a little fast? You and Teo have only been together for a few months. How do you know if he's the one?" Sokka asked.

"You don't know how magic works between two people do you?" Toph asked.

"I do." I answered quickly. Sokka looked mildly surprised.

"Then you know how hard it is, to find one that is compatible with our magic. I found mine, and sure it's a little unorthodox but I don't care. Teo is my mate, I wasn't going to wait until everyone else found it appropriate until we got together. When you find your mate, then you'll know that you will do almost anything to become bonded. Finding a mate is difficult in the supernatural world. I wasn't going to take advantage of it." Toph looked at me pointedly.

The three of us lapsed into silence, the only sound being the birds chirping in the nearby trees outside. "I should go." Toph said finally "If I stay out any later, they'll think I'm dancing around a bonfire, naked like the girls in _The Crucible_." Toph muttered

Before she left, I still had one more question that wouldn't let go. "Where did you learn Terramancy?

Toph smiled at some distant memory. "A couple of badgermoles." she said lightly before leaving the room.

Sokka and I stared at one another. "She's serious, isn't she?" Sokka asked

"When has she ever lied to us, Sokka?" I still couldn't believe how shallow Toph's parents were to her. I could maybe understand being a little wary for a few days after discovering your daughter is a werewolf. But to lock her away from the world, banning her from ever leaving the estate, that had to be some kind of abuse right? At the very least they treated Toph like she was a criminal.

She was lucky that she had the chance to attend school when we were in ninth grade, I can't imagine our group without the stubborn and blunt girl in the corner. What could have happened had Toph never had the opportunity to attend school, would she had run away into one of the magical settlements never to return? I can't imagine how Toph was able to handle being in a large home, with parents who feared her, and by herself for years. It was a miracle Toph didn't become a criminal or worse. Maybe she had done something along those lines, Toph was a very private person, it was in her nature. Though she revealed a lot of her home life, there were still large gaps in her stories. Still, at least she has Teo to confide in. He better not break her heart, ever.

"Katara, if we want to find any more information on the Warlock Coven, we need to do it before Dad gets home. The last thing we need, is him flipping out over a spell book in our hands." He went to his room and came back a few moments later with a thick volume in hand. He let it flop onto my bed and sat next to me. We both stared at the cover of the spell book _The Magic of Tui & La_, the words popped out at us. I was hesitant to open the book, did I really want to know the ins and outs of such a coven? Would we even find any information regarding them, it was possible that the book didn't have any information regarding them. Up until Nukpana kidnapped Tom-Tom I never heard of such a coven.

But like I said before, I would do anything to get Tommy back into the safety of our arms. If that means getting into the mindset of such a coven, so be it. I flipped open the cover of the book, Sokka watched with trepidation. "Warlock Coven." I muttered

The pages flipped once more in a fast pace. It took longer than when we were trying to find the magical towns across America. There were more pages flipping over than what the binders could hold, the laws of physics don't apply to magic it seems. Finally the book came to a rest near the back. One page, only one page was written about the coven. I can't say that I'm surprised but I am a little disappointed.

The title was written in black ink: _Sunset _

_ After years of searching, my brethren and I have found the Warlock's Coven fortress. Of all places the fortress resides deep in the Gobi Desert. This could finally be our chance to rid the world of such an evil. It is with hope and determination that my brethren and I defeat the Coven of the Dark._

_ The Coven of the Dark, also known as The Warlock's Coven or Warlock Coven, are sorcerer supremacists that believe magic should only be gifted to sorcerers. Should they come across beings not of them but with magical abilities, their magic is drained, they are killed, bodies burn to ashes. They are true practitioners of Dark Magic. It is rumored that they even converse with the Spirit of Darkness himself._

_ In all my years of tracking them, hunting them down, I know only so little of them. There are three levels of this coven: the Apprentices, the Masters, and the Warlock. The members wear masks with three glowing eyes. Each eye represents what the coven strives for: purity, strength, and immortality. I know that the three colors means something besides their ranks, but I am not sure what. Unfortunately even with all my training and fighting these people personally, not much of them is known. They thrive in the shadows, they live off of the fear that plagues my world. _

_ What I do know, is that their identities are erased. The moment a sorcerer joins the Warlock's Coven, they are essentially reborn. Their names are changed and they live to serve only the Dark Spirit and the Warlock. _

_ My fellow brethren and I had spent years tracking down the infamous Warlock, who goes by the name Mogwai. I've only seen a Warlock once. The day my family and my entire village was slaughtered before me. I had escaped his wrath, but I am now the last of my kind. Though we never could find the Warlock, we found many Masters and Apprentices and killed them where they stood. Though it is not without a price, should they know they are about to die, they recite an oath. Using their name of their 'past life' they kill not only themselves but the person they are cursing._

_ Still I would lay my life on the line for the cause. I know the chance of ever finding the Warlock again is nigh, but I cannot give up. One day the world will be free from the coven and the dark spirits they bring. Though I don't know much about their practices, I know for certain that some have become obsessed with immortality. _

_ I pass this book onto you Inouk and any of my descendants. We attack the fortress of Warlock members at nightfall, I may not survive the battle. Never forget the love I have for you or for your Mother._

_Tanouk._

"That can't be it." Sokka said in disbelief. "It's a death letter all over again. Seriously what is with our family and knowing they are about to die?" Sokka groaned

"And what did he mean, last of his kind? He had to have been an Aquamancer and an ancestor of ours, otherwise he wouldn't be in possession of this book, right?"

"Does it matter?" Sokka complained "We're still left with nothing. Just that this coven has been connected to our family for centuries."

"...We know that some are obsessed with immortality. Maybe that's something Nukpana is after."

"Maybe..." Sokka looked skeptical "We can tell the hybrids about that, other than that let's keep this to ourselves. Looks like we have more digging to do in our family tree."

The front door opened and we heard multiple footsteps. "Sokka, Katara, your Uncle and I brought pizza!" Dad called out.

"We'll be down in a minute Dad." Sokka shouted back. "We'll finish this some other time. Maybe we have to go to the library at Suirauqa or something."

"Or maybe asked Master Yugoda." I thought with sudden realization. "She was an adult during the White Lotus Movement, she'll know something about the Warlock Coven for sure." Sokka gave an affirmative nod before racing down the steps. He clearly was thinking with his stomach now.

I rolled my eyes at my brother, hid the book and followed quickly down the steps. Sokka gets his eating habits from Dad and Uncle Bato. I hope we finally can find all the answers, before another person is kidnapped.

Normal POV _(A Few Days Ago)_

Meng Phan sat on an old wooden swing, attached to a tree branch in her backyard. Her parents had gone to bed and Meng, regardless of the dangers, needed some air and here she sat. Meng wasn't one of the 'popular crowd' her hair wasn't manageable, her teeth were large, and she was but a poor farm girl. No one took notice of her, and for years she had been okay with that.

Then the new students came to her school, more importantly Aang Zheng came to her school. He looked exactly like the fortune teller, from the Redwood Summer Carnival, described the man she was destined to marry. Gray eyes, shaggy hair, tall and muscular. But most importantly he had large ears. Meng remembered falling in love with the boy already. She remembered sitting next to him in Pre-Calculus, she mustered up her courage and said a tiny hello to him. And to her utmost joy, Aang smiled and said hello back. It was love at first sight for Meng. And she was certain that one day Aang would feel the same way.

Imagine her horror, when she saw that twofaced Katara Ahote encroach on what was rightfully hers! She and Aang were destined to be together and the floozy just waltzes up to Aang, bat her pretty blue eyes, flip her brown hair and suddenly he's like a smitten puppy. It wasn't right!

What did Katara do to make Aang fall for her? She's suppose to be unapproachable by all the boys! It's been that way ever since that one rumored incident involving Hahn and a then sophomore Katara. Aang should be wary of her, just like the other boys. Katara had to have Aang under some unnatural influence. Yes that must be it, Aang was rightfully hers. They were destined to be together, all she had to do was get rid of Katara and Aang would be free. Meng could already hear wedding bells and picture mini-Mengs and mini-Aangs.

She was so close, and Katara was going to ruin it! She had to had to be a witch or something of darker origin otherwise Aang would have never fallen for her. So Meng had to do some research, she finally found a shop in the next town over that turned out to be an old book belonging to a suppose witch. The store owner had warned that book was dangerous and was not for sale, he didn't even know why it was out of the basement in the first place. With his back turned Meng stole it. Meng had to steal it, she was doing this for Aang! She had scrolled through chapter after chapter, disgusted. Katara could have done any of these things to get Aang to fall for her. She could have tried to do the same with Hahn but it didn't work.

It was obvious to Meng now that Hahn was the true victim. Katara needed to be stopped, maybe even Sokka too. It was possible that Katara might be responsible for the abductions. Meng knew it was her duty to save the town, and more importantly save Aang. Her and Aang were destined to be together after all.

Meng let out a startled yelp as she felt something sting the back of her neck. She felt around but could find no bug. The wind started to pick up and the clouds glided in front of the moon on occasion. "Maybe I should go inside." Meng said to herself, after all four people had already mysteriously disappeared, she didn't want to be the fifth.


	21. Chapter 21 The Apprentice

**Chapter 21 The Apprentice**

Normal POV

Hakoda Ahote was starting to become tired with so many extra people in his town. It was bad enough having to work with the FBI, and most of them, if not all, felt as if they were superior to small town cops, then there was the fact that nearly every major news station in the country was present. Chief Officer Ahote knew the importance of finding the four victims and the abductors responsible, but he rather not have news crews shadowing his every move, or FBI Agents second-guessing his commands. The worst of them was a gray haired Caucasian man name Daniel West. The man was only a few years older than Hakoda and had green eyes.

Agent West had to be the most difficult man Hakoda had ever worked with. The way the man spoke and carried himself, one would know that he thought himself superior to everyone he worked with. It was a wonder how Agent West gotten this far with such an attitude. Hakoda wearily walked up to the Police Station, ignoring the various reporters asking for any updates, and into the chaotic mess he'd come to know as his station. "Bato." Hakoda greeted his younger brother. Bato had a grim look on his face that didn't bode well for the officer. "What's wrong?" he asked wearily

"Agent West is waiting in your office." Speak of the devil. "He wants to speak to you now, says it's important."

"Of course it is." Hakoda muttered. Hakoda walked briskly down the hall, greeting his fellow coworkers along the way, and was at his office. Hakoda noticed, with annoyance, that Agent West was sitting at his desk, in his chair. "This isn't your office Agent, get out of my chair." Hakoda said sternly.

Agent West shrugged indifferently, nevertheless the man did get up from Hakoda's desk. "Was there something that you wanted?" Hakoda asked with restrained agitation.

"I just thought to tell you that my men and I have possible suspects."

"You figured out who the two women were?" Hakoda asked with skepticism. Chief Ahote had no doubt that Agent West was very capable of finding suspects in cases. But this wasn't a normal case, it was far from normal. Ever since Hakoda and his brother had reviewed the tape, he knew that supernatural forces were at play here. The two witches had to be powerful if they were able to tamper with technology. Ever since then, Hakoda had been going through all of his belongings to find any contacts he might still have from Kya's family. Hopefully Hakoda would be able to reach Kuruk, Kya's younger brother, as he was the only one of the family that had supported their marriage. Plus it was critical that his children receive training from someone he trusted. Hakoda wasn't stupid nor ignorant, he knew Sokka and Katara have been sneaking off to a magical settlement to train in aquamancy. It was the way they carried themselves, it was the same way as his wife would hold herself. God he missed her deeply.

Hakoda also knew that his children had now involved themselves into this case ever since Tom-Tom was abducted. He was sure by now they figured out that there were witches stalking Redwood. Hakoda had been meaning to talk to them, but these days he's seen more of his office than his own children. Everything was going haywire, it seemed, and worse off Hakoda had no control over the situation. In both his home and office. With each passing day the chances of finding the victims alive grew slimmer ever quickly. It hurt that Hakoda knew something that the others didn't and that he did not have the power to stop them.

His children did however. And knowing Katara like he did, there was no way on earth that she was just going to stand aside and do nothing while she knew what was going on. Sokka was just as passionate when it came to someone hurting his family and as far as Hakoda knew, Sokka thought Tom-Tom as a little brother. In fact the whole group was on the same mindset. It was why Hakoda desperately needed to get into contact with Kuruk. Hakoda didn't want to lose his children the same way he lost his Kya, he refused to.

"Yes, though I am a little lost as to why they haven't been questioned sooner." the voice Agent West brought Hakoda out of revere.

"And who is it, do you think might be responsible?" Hakoda asked.

"I have in my hand files pertaining to one rather unique family here in Redwood." the Agent was taking pleasure in milking this out. "The new family that had just moved into one of the mansions on the south side of town. Twenty-two year old Lu Ten Agni and his cousins."

"What?" Hakoda that couldn't be so. Katara was dating one of the boys from that family. "Agent West, you're accusing a family of teenagers of kidnapping?" Hakoda asked in disbelief

"We have files here of Mr. Agni and his family moving from town to town for the past two years. Each town they move to is small and the inhabitants all say the same thing, weird behaviors and often kept to themselves. We have no other records regarding them. Before 2010 there are no existing records that show they existed. No birth records, social security cards, nothing. Yet somehow they managed to buy an upscale home and enroll into public school. Now they're in Redwood and suddenly people go missing. I think it's finally time the FBI had a little talk with the family, don't you agree?" Agent West looked expectantly at Chief Ahote.

"Even if their past is questionable, we're looking for two women."

"And the family happens to have three young girls at the local high school, one of them is also nineteen years old. Tell me, what is a nineteen year old doing in high school instead of community college or an adult school to get a GED? I think you're getting sloppy at your job Ahote. One would think that maybe you're covering up for them." Agent West insinuated. Hakoda really hated the bastard.

"Of course not." Hakoda gritted out.

"Excellent, we'll question Mr. Agni right away." Hakoda sighed wearily, it was going to be another long day, it seemed.

Katara POV

The middle of first period, which was US History with Ms. Kwan, was interrupted when the intercom went off. "Would all students and staff please report to the auditorium immediately." the unusual stern voice of our Principal, Principal Aaron Patterson spoke out. Our classroom broke out into curious chatter and Ms. Kwan looked rather annoyed at being interrupted in the middle of her lesson. We had just finished our first chapter where our country gained its independence.

It was nearly unfathomable how much was taking place this year. From learning I was a witch, one of my best friends is a hybrid werewolf, and my boyfriend and his family were also hybrids, to fighting off witches, demented dryads, and learning of a malicious coven whose sole purpose was 'cleansing' magic. All of this happening and to realize that it is barely October, I wonder what the rest of the school year has in store for us.

"Alright, alright, settle down all of you." Ms. Kwan spoke out. "Now we're going to the auditorium in a calm and collected manner and you will act like the young adults I expect you to be." her tone warned the whole class. Ms. Kwan had us leave in an orderly fashion into the crowded hallway. I saw some of my friends and some of Aang's family occasionally but couldn't call to them, fearing of Ms. Kwan's wrath. Sokka had told me that serving detention with Ms. Kwan was not a pleasant experience.

Our class was one of the first to enter the old auditorium and was granted first row. The Principal, Vice-Principal, and some other staff members stood on stage. "You think we're here because of the disappearances?" I asked.

Aang shrugged his shoulders. "Possibly. Why else would Principal Patterson call a mass assembly all of the sudden?"

"Oh no, you don't think another person from school has been abducted do you?" Our school hasn't been the same since Jin's and Brian's disappearance. Jin's friends no longer smile, and looked like they barely sleep. The same thing goes for Jet and his soccer team, with one of their players and close friend gone, they lacked the drive. Even Jet has stopped flirting with Azula and often prefers to sit behind the school building. Not that our group is any better, Mai was in a catatonic state. She hardly eats, sleeps, or talks to anyone. We all made sure to keep Mai some company. At the very least let her know that she isn't in this alone. Though I still feel guilty over the matter. Whenever Mai would speak, she would ask why someone would kidnap an innocent child. The answer: because Nukpana wanted to. And it isn't like I could tell Mai that a maniac witch from the infamous Warlock Coven kidnapped her little brother because somehow he and the others are the missing link to immortality.

Sokka and I asked our Masters the other day. Both didn't know much of the coven only that their family had been attacked by them before and that they were obsessed with becoming immortal. There was no one we could turn to that knew the Warlock Coven extensively, unless we somehow miraculously captured one of them. Even then the witch would most likely perform a Mortem Oath than give information on the abductees' whereabouts.

Back onto the subject at hand. Regarding Mai, there are times where I just want to say 'screw it!' and tell Mai everything. At least then she would have some answers. Maybe then I could tell the others, Suki and Ty Lee, and there would finally be no more secrets hidden among us! I was tired of all the lying and vague answers and I could tell that Suki knew Sokka and I at least were hiding something. It was starting to put a strain on Sokka's and Suki's relationship and that wouldn't be good as she is the only one of all the girls Sokka has been in a relationship with that I actually trusted. Was this how Mom felt when she went to college, forever stuck between two worlds, never truly belonging to one? I shouldn't feel so bad though, at least I had some friends that are like me. I don't have to go through this totally alone.

Principal Patterson tapped his finger on the microphone a few times, garnering everyone's attention. He was a kind man, in his late forties, early fifties, was a little pudgy and had balding brown hair and hazel eyes. Principal Patterson cleared his throat a few times before speaking. "Thank you for coming in a such a quick and orderly fashion." he said. "Now I know you are all aware of the kidnappings that are taking place in our small town, we can rest assure that the police and FBI are doing all that they can to find the missing persons. Nevertheless, the Board and I feel that because two of your fellow classmates are among the missing, that new rules need be take in measure immediately.

"From this point on, all after school activities, sports, clubs, and others of such nature are hereby closed. All sporting games, including tomorrow's football game are canceled! And all dances until further notice are canceled and this includes Homecoming and the Redwood Halloween Festival!" Principal Patterson spoke over the roaring noises of displeasure. "SILENCE!" he roared.

"Damn." Aang muttered appreciatively

"Now I know that these rules may seem unfair to you, but precautions must be made. Until the ones responsible are captured these rules will stand in place. The Mayor has also placed a city-wide curfew of six o'clock until this matter is resolved. That means all shops and business will be closed at sunset. Until then, be on guard, never go anywhere outside homes by yourself, do not go gallivanting into the woods and if you have any information, no matter how insignificant it seems, that may help the police, please do not hesitate to inform them. Our fellow Redwood citizens are lost out there, and I'm sure we all want them to return safely."

"How are we suppose to feel safe if they can take us from our homes like they did Jin?" one of Jin's close friends called out.

"They took Brian while he was out in the field!"

"I heard the Librarian never even made it to her car!" More outcries from the students soon filled the auditorium. It was a screaming match and I could feel the sense of urgency, confusion, and panic. But mostly anger and frustration. Me and the werewolves weren't the only ones affected by the disappearances. And while we knew at least who was responsible for this, the rest of the town did not. As far as I'm aware there is no evidence belonging to Nukpana nor her Apprentice, if there even is one.

It had been four weeks since the first victim was abducted and still there was nothing to show, from both the police and us, of her whereabouts nor the following four victims. We're pressed against time, but we don't even know when the deadline will come. Yue is on a theory that since the abductions are somewhat spaced out randomly, that Nukpana is bidding her time until the next full moon, October 29th. And if that's true then we have little less than a month before Nukpana disappears completely. That means we have to find where she is hiding, somehow overcome a witch that could control your bones, rescue the people, all the while balancing schoolwork, and in Sokka's and I's case aquamancy. Oh joy.

"I know that you're all scared. I'm scared too, but we should not give in to panic. We have to keep a calm mind and pray that our friends and family return safely to us. In the meantime we should give our support to the families that are suffering, this has always been a close community and no abductor is going to change that now."

Suki and I were heading to lunch, ignoring the ever leering stare of Hahn. Suki looked at the other boy dangerously before shaking it off. "So since my cheerleading practices and jiu jistu are officially canceled," here Suki laughed bitterly "wanna hang out at my place afterschool, have a little study session, then watch movies for Toph's sanity? I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind, plus it might be what Mai needs."

"I am worried for her." I worried my lower lip.

"Me too, she hardly eats. And whenever she closes her eyes she has nightmares. She spends most of her time locked away in her room from what Ty has told me."

"Really? I didn't know that." I muttered

"You're busy." Suki spoke indifferently "So what do you say, the five of us at my place?"

Crap. Afterschool Sokka and I have training with our Masters. We always had to be there at exactly three-thirty sharp. Master Hama was surprisingly a stickler for time, and it would be a huge disrespect to show up late or blow her off completely. But I can't lie to Suki either. "I'm sorry Suki, I just remembered Sokka and I have this...family thing to do afterschool. I can try to be at your house later though." I finished quickly to assure her.

Suki frowned to herself for a moment. "Family thing, huh?" she muttered disbelievingly. See this is why I can never become a politician, I can't lie even if my life depended on it.

"Gah!" I shouted as Suki pulled me into the girl's restroom. she scanned the tiled room and nodded in satisfaction that it was vacant. "Suki what the hell?" I exclaimed

"Look, at the risk of sounding like some clingy bitch, what the hell is going on with you and Sokka?" Suki exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously

"Don't act like some dumbass, you know what I mean." the copper red hair girl snipped. "Practically since school started, the two of you have gotten all secretive. And I'm not the only one that's noticed, the whole group is wondering what's going on."

"Nothing is going on Suki, Sokka and I just have a lot on our plate right now."

"All I'm saying is the two of you are entitled to have your secrets, I just don't want to be lied to by one of my best friends and boyfriend."

"We're entitled, thank you for giving me your approval." I spoke sardonically

"That's not what I meant and you know it. I'm worried about you guys. All of this started when you started looking for your Mom's belongings. Does this have something to do with that?" I didn't answer. "I'll take that as a yes."

"What do you want from me Suki?"

"I want to know what the hell is going on! First Sokka starts lying to me about his whereabouts and now you. Things are already going to shit, with the kidnappings and I don't want our friendship ruin on top of all of this."

"Then maybe you should focus your attention to Mai, she's the one that lost her little brother to a psychotic woman out in the woods!" I shouted

Suki looked at me funny and I didn't know why until she said "How do you know it's a woman?"

I'm normally not the one to curse often but, oh fuck. "I don't." I spoke too quickly, I panicked

"You do. What did you and Sokka do, what the fuck did you both do?"

"Suki we didn't do anything!" I tried placating her but she flinched away from my hand.

"Whatever the fuck you two are doing, keep me out of it." she walked backwards toward the door. "Stay away from me." Suki rushed out the door leaving me standing in the middle of the restroom, alone.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed and held my head in my hands, trying vainly to stop the forming headache. I'm in serious trouble now, I know it. Suki knows Sokka and I are tied in some way to the disappearances. She's never been a gossiper, but will she go inform the police. Would she even trust them since Dad is the Chief of Police. What if she went to the FBI? Not only is my friendship with Suki practically ruin now I have to worry about the FBI questioning my brother and I. "What else could go wrong?" I muttered tiredly. Why do I suddenly get the feeling that Murphy's Law is about to do me over?

Normal POV

It was nearly midnight when Katara was awoken abruptly. She gazed around her dark room confusingly before settling on the dark form of her older brother Sokka. "Sokka, what-"

"We gotta go." he spoke urgently "The wards not too far from us has been breached. We need to go over there now. We'll probably meet the others on the way there."

"Shit." Katara cursed and quickly pulled on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt before following her brother down the hall and out the back. The Ahote siblings created mist before their forms and jumped on before flying off into the oppressive forest. Both were now on edge, there was a chance that Nukpana or her Apprentice was there tonight. And more likely than not they would have a new victim in their grasp. Katara was determined not to let another poor soul slip between her fingers again. This time she wasn't going into the fight blindly, she was more aware of magic now, and what it could do.

She urged her small cloud to go faster, Katara could feel she was getting close to the wards that alerted her brother. Yue had made sure that they were keyed to every magical being in town. They were closing in on the location when the back of their hairs suddenly prickled. Out of the shadows glowed three purple eyes, it's prey ever unaware.

Water with ice chunks slammed into Sokka and Katara and sent them crashing and fumbling upon the earth. They were quick to get onto their feet as the Apprentice jumped high from the shadows and threw icicles at the Ahotes. The two dodged in opposite directions. Soyala landed directly in the middle and encased her arms in water whips. She lassoed her enemies and sent them on the defense. Katara formed her own water whip and batted away the opposing. Sokka, in a rare display of agility, danced around the deadly end of the witch's power. He threw his arms before him and a series of ice spikes erupted from the earth straight to the older woman.

Soyala used the oncoming threat to her advantage and somersaulted off the deadly points. She landed next to Katara and moved around the ice daggers in the young witch's hand. She bent backwards in half as the dagger sliced the air inches from Soyala's face. She delivered a roundhouse kick to Katara's solar plexus and rushed Sokka. Her hands now resembled of long lethal claws of frozen water. She made swipes at Sokka's middle, closing in on his space so he could not bend. Sokka was once more on the defensive as he did his best to avoid Soyala's claws. He cried out in pain as gashes were made on his side.

Soyala made a swipe to Sokka's jugular but Sokka managed to block the blow with his encased forearms. Up to his elbows were his fists and arms coated in an armor of ice. He threw a sucker punch to the woman's face and she rolled with the punch.

The two were in a brutal close contact fight. If Sokka were able to see behind the mask and under the hood, he would be able to make out the forming bruises. Soyala managed, a few times, to break past his defense and leave cuts along his body. At one point Soyala was able to kick behind his knees and send him to the ground. His bounced on the ground with a hard thud and he laid there dazed. Before Soyala could strike again a lasso of water tighten around her neck. She was pulled toward the other witch, where she was kneed in the chest. Soyala managed to rip herself from Katara, unbeknownst that her necklace fell to the ground, and threw her claws at the other Aquamancer. They sunk deep into the trunk of the tree where Katara's head had been.

A loud groaning noise came from above. Katara looked up and her eyes widen as the same tree was now falling down on her. With quick hand movements the tree was made into splinters and Katara sent the new source of water at the Apprentice. Soyala twirled it behind her and sent it back to Katara. Katara split the wave in two and sent one half to her brother and formed the rest into javelins. Sokka formed a ring of rushing water around the woman, encroaching the enemy ever further.

Katara threw her weapons into the ring directly at Soyala. Soyala danced, twirled, ducked, and batted away the spears. She grabbed the last two in her hands, twirled them around her and struck the ground. Large ice spikes erupted out in a protective ring around Soyala. Katara and Sokka to similar stances, their hands arched above their heads and they quickly brought them down to their sides. Half of the ring crumbled into powdered snow.

A restless stalemate settled between the three Aquamancers. Sokka had glowing globes of water floating above his palms, water whips swirled around Katara's form, and the Apprentice had extended claws once more. Before any could attack, Soyala stood upright. She cocked her head to one side, as if she could hear something that the Ahotes could not. With quick movements the Apprentice threw three ice pellets and the area erupted in icy fog. By the time Sokka and Katara cleared the area, the witch was long gone.

Sokka collapsed wearily onto his knees, hugging his torso tightly. "Sokka!" Katara ran to her brother. "I'm fine." he panted. "I'm healing myself."

"Let me check your head, you might have a concussion." Katara ordered worriedly

"Just as long as you check yourself too. That bitch had a mean roundhouse. I can't believe we nearly got our ass handed to us by one witch. Where the hell were the others?" he asked angrily

"I don't know." Katara muttered. The moon finally showed itself from the clouds and something from the ground reflected from the moonlight. Katara stopped her healing session on her older brother and walked up to object.

It was a necklace, a dark blue sash with a moonstone pendant. Something about it was familiar to Katara, the carving of waves crashing. Her jaw dropped, the necklace fell from her grasp onto the grass. Her legs suddenly gave out and she collapsed onto her knees. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "No..."

"Katara!" Sokka made his way over to his sister. "What is it, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly

With unsteady fingers Katara picked up the necklace and held it out in her palm to her brother. "This is Mom's necklace...the Apprentice is our Mom." Katara looked and sounded broken. "Our Mom is part of the Warlock Coven." Sokka stared forlornly into the obscure forest. He held his sister tightly to his side as she wept desperately.

_Please, for once let Katara be wrong_. He thought to the heavens.


	22. Chapter 22 Lost and Betrayed

AN: And I'm back! My goal is to finish this story by halloween, because you know it deals with witches and werewolves. I've also gone back and read through and corrected and grammar or syntax errors I've spotted. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Read and Review please!

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><p><strong>Chapter 22 Lost and Betrayed<strong>

Aang POV

"Nukpana takes great pleasure in making all of us look like a bunch of asses." Azula muttered as we made our way to school. A sixth victim was abducted. We never even had the chance to leave our house because the bitch sent demented naiads on us. It took nearly an hour for us to defeat them, even with a skilled Aquamancer on our side. I still have some bruises on the side of my torso.

"The woman takes pleasure in causing pain." Zuko growled "Six victims in and all we know is that Nukpana is part of the infamous Warlock Coven and maybe has an apprentice. We are nowhere close to finding her home or finding Tom-Tom." he growled in frustration.

"Really I wasn't made aware." June said snidely "The bitch is gonna screw up eventually, and we'll get her and rescue the humans."

"How? So far she's singlehandedly kicked our asses without so much as lifting a finger." Haru deadpanned.

"That just proves she's lazy and would rather have others fight her battles. The key is to catch her unawares. So far we've been responding only when she comes into town. The witch would already have a plan made, she's cunning and tactical." Azula informed

"We'll just have to catch the woman off her game. I'm tired of getting my ass handed to by a psychopath that loves to hear herself talk." June muttered. She looked over her shoulder to where I was. I was in the back of the group next to Zuko. "Any word from the Ahotes?" she asked

"No. I kept trying to call Katara, but she keeps sending me to voicemail. I think something happened last night." I know something did. Katara wasn't one to blatantly ignore a person, it just wasn't in her nature. I couldn't sleep well knowing that something was troubling her and she was shutting me out. Part of me wanted to just leave the den and head over to the Ahote household to see what the hell was going on, Alpha Lu Ten thought otherwise. It would be suspicious if I was seen walking about the neighborhood, in the dead of night, after curfew. Add on that someone else was abducted last night and I would be made prime suspect. And the last thing our pack needs is for the FBI to keep poking around our history.

Lu Ten had told us that he was visited at his job, he works at the local mechanic shop, by Katara's father and some FBI agent who went by the name Daniel West. The man was rather 'curious' as to where we came from and how come there were no records of our birth. Needless to say we are now suspects of the six abductions. Ironic how we're the primary suspects when we're the ones trying to protect the town.

"Well when you see her, tell her and her brother to meet with us at lunch. Lu Ten wants to know what happened with those two." June's voice brought me out of my inner thoughts.

"Alright."

"Are Toph and Teo alright? I know they faced Nukpana on their own, I never got the chance to heal them." Yue asked worriedly

June shrugged. "Lu didn't tell me about their conditions. I'm bettin' it's nothing serious since he never sent you over to check on their injuries." Yue still didn't look appeased. "Doesn't matter, we'll see them in a few minutes. I shouldn't have to remind you to guard your mouths, we don't want anybody eavesdropping on something they're not suppose to hear. Got it?" a chorus of yeses and June smiled in satisfaction.

The school definitely changed dramatically since the first day. The streets were congested more than usual as nearly all of the students were being dropped off by worried parents and quickly ushered inside by faculty. Officers were posted periodically across the lawn and down the block. Were they expecting for Nukpana to just show up in midday and announce herself as the abductor? There were even a few news crew stationed on the other side of the street, waiting for anything remotely exciting. "Isis, this place is a circus." Haru muttered in distaste.

"The humans act as though they have lost their minds." Azula rolled her eyes "I can understand fear, but do they expect the perpetrator to make themselves known in front of the whole school?"

"Just go to class." June said impatiently.

Walking to class was...interesting. I was already used to the hushed whispers and stares from the other students, wonder what rumor is spreading about us now, but what I wasn't expecting was... "Hi Aang." a girl said in what I guess was suppose to be flirty. My nose was going crazy because of her scent, and that was not a good thing. This girl had on way too much perfume on. I was at my locker getting my history textbook out for Ms. Kwan's class when this girl with thick hair came up to me. Way too close, as she was practically leaning on my shoulder. Hasn't this girl ever heard of personal space?

"Uh hi?" Where's Azula when you need her?

"I don't think we've properly met, but I'm in your pre-calc class with Mrs. Matthews. I sit in the middle of the class." I think I remember her, yeah she's really quiet and she as a name that starts with a M. "Megan?"

"Meng." she replied in annoyance. No need to be upset about it. After that little outburst we lapsed into awkward silence. It looked like Meng was waiting for me to ask her something. And the way she kept staring at me was starting to freak me out.

"Uh...can I help you with something? Did you need notes from class?" I offered to the socially awkward girl.

"Actually I'm here to help you out." Meng sounded so please with herself.

"Right...and what is it that I need help with?" Besides taking down a demented witch hell bent on terrorizing the town. That and probably relationship advice.

"I know what's going on between you and Katara."

I arched a brow at the girl. "You do? And what would that be?"

"That it's not what you think it is between the two of you."

"Really?" I asked skeptically "And what's going on then, since you know?"

"She has you under a spell. And not in a good way, you may think that you like her, but you don't. Katara pretends to be this sweet, kind, and beautiful girl, but really she's a demented bi-"

"Alright I heard enough, you do not expect me to just stand here and do nothing while you talk mess about my girlfriend! If you want to help me so bad you'll stay the fuck out of my relationship, got it."

Meng had jump back in fright and looked ready to run away. Then a cool smile crossed her face as she folded her arms to push up her breast. Seriously, she thinks doing that will entice me? "I can see you're not ready for the truth yet." What? "I'll leave you be, just be careful Aang. Katara is not what she seems, after what happened with Hahn I'm surprised you're still in a relationship. See you in class Aang." Meng blew a kiss and walked off to her first class humming some tune to herself.

I stood there, dumbstruck, next to my open locker. My mind was a complete jumbled mess. What the hell was wrong with that girl? And what did she mean with that jackass Hahn? What does he have to do with Katara? "Did that really just happen?" I asked myself in disbelief.

"Looks like you got yourself an admirer." Zuko walked by with a smirk.

"You were here this whole time? Why didn't you help me out?" I shouted in outrage

Zuko held an index finger up to his chin and pretended to ponder for a few seconds. "Hmm. Guess it never came to mind."

"Fucking liar." I muttered and slammed the locker door closed.

"Believe what you want. You should probably get to class, you don't want to be late."

"Shit." Ms. Kwan was a stickler on punctuality. I do not want to end up serving detention for her. I ran all the way to class and made it barely with thirty seconds to spare. Ms. Kwan did not look too pleased.

"Take your seat Mr. Zheng and due try to get to class earlier next time."

"Yes ma'am." I responded then made my way toward the back of the class ignoring the snickers from my classmates.

Katara was at her usual desk and I smiled at her. She didn't. That didn't sit well with and I frowned as I was sitting down. Something was wrong with Katara. She looked as though she hadn't slept all night. A frown was etched onto her face and she refused to look anywhere else but at her notebook. A plethora of emotions rolled off with her scent, none of them good. I could smell disbelief, anger, confusion, betrayal, anguish. It would change between those emotions at a quick pace that it was starting to make my head spin.

Whatever happened last night, affected Katara badly. I've never seen her this way before. And I was a little lost at what to do. I couldn't comfort her now as we were in class, maybe I can talk to her at lunch? If she's up to it at least.

Lunchtime came and went, and neither I nor my family and friends saw any trace of the Ahote siblings. When I asked Suki during passing period if she had seen Katara or Sokka around she only shook her head no before heading the opposite way in class, she might as well have been ignoring. Wonder what her deal is. After another interesting class with Mr. Omashu, I swear the old man is senile, I rushed out of class and off of the school premises. I waived to my pack at the front of the steps and informed them I would see them later on.

Katara's house was only a few minutes away from school, so it didn't take me long to reach her front porch and wait impatiently for the door to open after knocking on it. "C'mon, someone open the door please." I muttered while pacing about impatiently. Finally I heard someone walk up to the door and heard it unlock. "Toph?" How did she beat me?

"'Sup Twinkletoes." Toph responded. Twinkletoes?

"Why...never mind. Look is Katara here?"

Toph's smirk dropped. "Yeah, she's holed up in her room. She's not talking to anyone right now. Same with Sokka, I'm trying to get one of them to speak."

"Same, that's why I'm here. Let me talk to Katara and you can work on Sokka."

Toph seem to mull it over in her head for a few moments. Then finally she gave a short nod in approval. "You might have better luck, you are her boyfriend after all." Toph stepped aside and allowed me to enter the Ahote household. "I'm assuming you'll just follow her scent and don't need me for directions." Toph then went on towards the kitchen.

"Toph, why are you going into the kitchen now?" Their rooms are upstairs.

"Sokka will respond better with food than just me alone. I'm sure his favorite snacks are somewhere in this kitchen, now go and cheer Katara up." Toph waived me off.

Trailing Katara's scent soon found my way in front of her closed door. Tentatively I knocked. "Go away Toph." I heard Katara muttered

"It's me, Aang." she didn't respond. "Please, Katara let me in." I pleaded softly. For a moment I thought Katara would just ignore me and I would be standing here looking like an idiot. Then I heard her door unlock and open slowly. Katara didn't look once at me as she led me into her bedroom. She was fidgeting and playing with the ends of her hair as she sat at the edge of her bed. Her eyes widen slightly and I smelled a small scent of fear as I pushed the door closed. I decided to leave it slightly ajar and that seemed to appease her for now. What happened to my girlfriend to make her feel like cornered prey?

I took a moment to look around her room and gather my thoughts. I didn't know how to approach the metaphorical white elephant as Katara could very well kick me out so that she wouldn't have to deal with whatever was bothering her. This is stupid. I'm afraid to talk to my own girlfriend when something is obviously bothering her! I can face bewitched nymphs but I can't go and comfort my girlfriend because I'm uncomfortable around crying girls. Pathetic, Aang. Really pathetic.

I settled myself on her desk chair keeping a reasonable distance from Katara as she seems to want personal space today. Neither of us said a word and the minutes ticked away in silence. I figured if Katara wants to talk she'll do it without prompting or me asking a stupid question like 'Are you okay?'. "My Mom's alive."

"What?" that wasn't what I was expecting. "A-are you sure?"

Katara gave a dark chuckle. "Positive."

This is wrong. I thought Mrs. Ahote had died over a decade ago, that's what Katara told me and she wouldn't lie about something like this. "And you're not happy."

"No I'm not!" Katara snapped and faced me with hard blue eyes. "And you wanna know why? It turns out my own Mom is the Apprentice to Nukpana. Yep, all these years we thought she had died in a car crash and it turns out she has been in the Warlock Coven."

"That doesn't make any sense." I said slowly "I thought she was part of the White Lotus Movement."

"Well it looks like she double crossed them." Katara snarled. "This whole time I had my Mother on a pedestal, thinking that she was some perfect woman without any flaws. Then I learn that she's an Aquamancer and I learn the real her through her journals. But that was just a lie. It was all a lie! She betrayed my Dad and now is hurting innocent people for some unjustly cause!"

"You're sure, you're absolutely sure that your Mother is the Apprentice?"

Katara gave me a shrewd look. "Do you think I'm an idiot?" I quickly shook my head no. "Her necklace came off while we were fighting last night. It's the same one she used to where when we were little. Sokka ran a spell on it to show who was the last to wear it and it came up with _her_ name: _Kya Ahote_." Katara spat out in disgust.

"Katara..." I reached out a hand to comfort her but she slapped it away.

"I don't want to be touched right now." She stood up from her bed and began pacing around her room. "It's like I don't know who she is anymore. I thought I came close to understanding her when I was reading her journal, but now that's all blown to smoke. Everything was a facade. Did she know how are family would be when she just upped and 'died' with only a letter that wasn't even truthful? It had taken years for my Dad to get over her death and he's still not completely over it. There aren't any pictures of her around the house at all, he's never talked about her, and he still can't date another woman because he'll feel guilty!

"I don't know who to trust anymore. Nearly everyone I have ever put my trust in has betrayed me in some way. Dad lied to me all these years, then there was Hahn, and now my Mom back from the dead turns out to be a villain! Who's next, you? Are you gonna double cross me to Nukpana?"

"Katara!" she stopped her pacing and frowned at me. "You honestly think I'm going to betray you the moment it's most convenient for me?"

"My last boyfriend did."

That's new to me, I didn't even know she had one before me. "Well I'm not like Hahn. Whatever he did to you, left you some type of scar. Look I understand that you're upset because of your Mom, but don't take it out on me, I'm not the bad guy here."

"How do I know that? You could be two-faced like my Mom. And what do you know of being betrayed by a family member?"

"How do you think I became an orphan in the first place Katara?" I shouted back. Her face soften and in the back of my mind I knew I should of stopped before I said something stupid but I was so angry. This whole time when we were dating I thought things were going smoothly, I guess I was wrong. "You're acting like an ass right now." That did it.

"Oh I'm an asshole now, huh?"

"That's not what I meant." I tried to placate

"Obviously you did, otherwise you wouldn't of said it in the first place. Get out."

"What?"

"You heard me get out! Leave me alone, and just get out of here!"

She glared up at me and her eyes filled with unshed tears. Part of me wanted to stay and fix this crap we got ourselves into. But right now was not the time for either of us, I'm still pissed off at her. "Fine." I grabbed my backpack and left her room. I ignored the curious stares from Sokka and Toph ran down the stairs and past Mr. Ahote and his brother as they just entered the living room.

"Aang?" Mr. Ahote asked questionably. I ignored him and went outside. I wish I could just go to the forest and run this off. I guest blasting magic at the walls in the basement would have to do for now.

Katara POV 

"You know I think you overreacted just a bit." the ever helpful Terramancer supplied from the doorway.

"Not now Toph." I growled out "And how have I overreacted, he's the one that called me an ass!" I shouted back

"Yeah it was wrong and I'm sure he'll apologize for it, if he knows what's good for him, but you were in the wrong too, Katara."

What the hell was Toph getting at? "No I wasn't. He's the one that decided to come here afterschool when I clearly wanted to be alone."

"You're mad because Aang was being a concerned boyfriend? Unbelievable." Toph shook her head in astonishment.

"Look if you're not gonna help me then-"

"That's the problem right there. You're too stubborn and proud to get help from somebody, and coming from me that's saying something."

"You think you know everything don't you?" I muttered bitterly

"I know _you_ Katara. When shit hits the fan, your solution is to push everyone away. And you're doing it now. Aang has been worried shitless for you all day at school and he came here to check on you and what do you do, you accuse of him of being an unworthy person and comparing him to that rapist Hahn!"

"Hahn's not a rapist, he didn't rape me Toph!" I cried out

"He almost did. Or did you forget?" I flinched horribly as the memory came to surface. Toph didn't need to remind me, I'll never forget. "It took us weeks to even approach you without you snapping our heads off. You've never been the same, and I can understand why, really I do. But you never went out to seek help. You kept everyone at an arm's length. You pulled yourself in and appeared standoffish, more so than Mai.

"Then Aang comes and for the first time in a while I see a full smile, not a smirk, a smile. You're blushing and giggling and making googley eyes at the boy more than Ty Lee on a sugar rush. I know you feel betrayed because of your Mom and now you're doubting your ability to trust the right people but shutting the world out is not the answer. You're having this woe is me pity party when you have us to lean on. We don't have the luxury of wallowing in despair when Nukpana could be out there right now currently stalking her next victim!"

"You're being a fucking hypocrite!" I was tired of her putting me down like this. Where does she get off on telling me how to feel? "You've kept everything bottled up for three years. None of us knew how bad your home life has been."

"Well part of the reason was that I couldn't tell you exactly why my parents treated me like a monster. I'm a hybrid, remember. And that doesn't even matter! At least I told someone everything that was going on, Teo. You never confide in everyone, you rather push everyone away so that we don't see you hurting and then never deal with the problem head on. You bury it deep in you."

"Go away Toph." I muttered

"Ugh." Toph groaned in frustration "Whatever be miserable." the petite Terramancer pushed herself off the doorway. Before she left however she said one last thing over her shoulder. "You told me the other day I don't have to go through hardships alone. The same thing goes for you too. It doesn't even have to be me. Stop pushing people away, because sooner or later they might stop trying and you're going to wake up one day old and alone."

Toph gently closed the door behind her. It was only then did I allow the tears to fall from eyes. "What is wrong with me?" I mumbled


	23. Chapter 23 Nini

**Chapter 23 Nini**

Katara POV

Sleep has alluded me for the past few hours. After Toph left, I stayed holed up in my room, ignoring the voices at my door. Dad wanted to know what was going on and why I was acting such a way. Sokka wanted to see how I was fairing. Did no one understand that I wanted to be left alone? I needed some time to process all of what I'm feeling.

At this point I feel all messed up. The kidnappings that has threatened my hometown for nearly a month is starting to wear me down. This whole time we've been on the defensive, fighting an enemy shrouded in the shadows. I don't think I can continue on like this. I almost feel like giving in. But I would never forgive myself if I left Tommy in the clutches of Nukpana and my Mother.

Some Mom. She would have my family believe she had died years ago, leave us to pick up the broken pieces and brush them under the rug. Never truly healing. After all these years, she makes a return from the dead. But as a member of the Warlock Coven who takes pleasure in victimizing innocent mortals. The woman is not the Mother I remember as a child. The one that would read Sokka and I bedtime stories every night, the one that would check the closets for monsters. The woman who used to make Dad smile as if he's the happiest man in the world. How much of that was real? Did she ever truly love us? Had she been part of the Warlock Coven even before she joined the White Lotus? The most pressing question though, could I face her again and fight her knowing that she's my Mom?

But why should I have such dilemmas? She has been gone from our family for years. Dad had to play both Mom and Dad all the while trying to mend our broken hearts. We all had to suffer at the account of her selfishness. Besides the woman had no such qualms battling her own children the other night. Sokka and I didn't stand much of a chance against her. Was she holding back, or was she giving her all? And how are we to face both the Apprentice and Master? The Master alone managed to defeat a pack of hybrid wolves with just a wave of her hand. Do we really stand a chance against two members of the Warlock Coven? Or are we just being naive thinking we can come out of this victorious?

Even if we did defeat them? What about the victims, where were they hidden? What horrors were they subjected to by Nukpana and her? Were they still alive? I shook my head furiously. "Don't think like that Katara." I whispered to myself "I promised myself that I would find Tommy. I won't let him down, I won't fail Mai." I need to work through this. I can't wallow around in self pity. Toph's right, as annoying as that is, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself. I need to act like a grown adult here. As I said a while back, the world doesn't stop because I'm in pain. If I'm ever going to move on and be happy, I need to face my past. Not only for my sake but for the sake of the others. My friends, my family, I can't keep pushing them away. I need them just like they need me. At this moment, we all need one another. If we are to beat Nukpana and Kya then we need to be strong as a team, I cannot let personal feelings and problems get in the way.

Starting tomorrow I need to apologize to a few people. Starting off with Sokka, he has to be going through the same churning emotions as I am. Toph for brushing her off when she's been nothing but a good friend to me. And last but not least Aang. He's in no way like Hahn, and I need to stop thinking that he'll hurt me. If this relationship is going to last I need to be open. If I'm going to move on from what Hahn did, I have to let out the hurt and fear I have been bottling. Maybe get counseling, I think it would be easier talking to a stranger about this than somebody I know.

First things first, I'll need a good night's rest. And even with my sudden revelation I still can't get any sleep! It's frustrating, my body feels tired but my mind is restless. I don't think I can rest easy until the victims are set free and returned to their families safely. It is nerve wracking, knowing that the fate six individuals rests on the shoulders of a group of abnormal teenagers. I miss the days where my biggest worry was finishing up projects or passing exams.

"Maybe I should meditate like Master Yugoda taught me." I muttered to myself. It was worth a shot, I was out of options. I had tried counting sheep, warm glass of milk, listening to soothing music and let my mind drift, nothing. Part of me was hesitant, the last time I meditated I ended up in the Spirit Realm by accident. And if it wasn't for Hama and Yugoda, who knows how long I would have been stuck there. "Okay, Katara you just have to clear your mind and relax. Don't think about spirits and you won't end up in the other world." At least that was my theory.

I arranged myself into a lotus position on my bed. Took a deep breath and let my mind go blank. I kept my breathing deep and even, I could feel the tensions in my muscle slowly loosen up. My eyes were already closed to better concentrate but I could feel them grow heavy with sleep. My mind wandered as I begin to loose consciousness. The warm, fuzzy call of sleep grew ever stronger and I could feel my body sway.

The next thing I knew, I awoke with a start. My bed did not feel the same. Did I fall asleep? Am I just waking up now? Blue grass blades brushed against my skin, tickling my nose. Blue grass? I sat up quickly and took notice of my surroundings. My jaw dropped in awe.

I sat on the cliff side facing an expansive waterfall. The water was a mesmerizing blue-violet color as it cascaded over the cliffs. The sky was a strange, instead of it being a light blue I was accustomed to, it was a green-blue with strange purple clouds gliding in the light breeze. The trees grew out in spiral blooming bright pink and red flowers. Plethora of weird creatures were frolicking about. Some grazing, others flying, there were even ones swimming in the falls. It was then that I knew I was not sleeping in my room but in the Spirit Realm. "How did I get here?" I asked myself. More importantly how do I get out? The last time I was in the Spirit Realm I was stuck on a moon and couldn't get out without the aid of Master Yugoda. This was exactly what I was afraid of when I was meditating. Somehow I got sucked into this place, I wasn't even thinking about the Spirits in the first place!

"Hello." a childlike voice spoke behind me. It was a little girl! She looked to be about eight years old. She had short brown hair and brown eyes. There was something about those eyes on her. Like they were out of place on such a small child. Instead of holding innocence, they held wisdom and maturity that I was almost sure the girl was an adult in a child's body. Though being in the Spirit Realm, that might actually be a possibility.

"Hello." I said back uncertainly. If possible, the girl's smile widen. "Can I help you with something?" I asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Actually I'm here to help you." the little girl spoke proudly.

"Can you help me get out of this place?" I asked hopefully. As beautiful as this part of the Spirit Realm is, I had no intentions in staying here forever. Master Hama had said that in some ways the Spirit Realm is very much like the physical realm. This place too shares its fair share of dangers.

"You wanna leave so soon?" she pouted. "But you just got here!" she exclaimed

"I'm sorry." I responded "I just don't want to end up stuck here, roaming around this place forever."

"Well that won't happen unless you choose to stay here once you've died." the little girl said flippantly.

"What?"

"Yeah, souls of the living pass through here to get to Eternal Paradise. But some decide to stay here as a spirit."

"Eternal Paradise? Y-you're...are you..." I trailed off awkwardly

"Dead?" the little girl raised a brow. She crossed her arms and canted her hips to one side. "It's just a word. It's not contagious. And yes I'm dead, I've been dead for almost thirty-five years."

"W-what?"

"Sheesh, is that all you can say?" the little girl rolled her eyes. "I'm dead, so what?"

"B-but you're so young. You're only a child!"

"Well life can be rather unfair." the childlike persona disappeared from the little girl in that moment. The way she said it and how her eyes darkened reminded me of my Gran-Gran. "I'm Nini," her childlike personality present once more. "nice to meet you." Nini held out her hand for me to shake.

"Katara. Likewise." I responded softly

Nini cocked her head to one side with a pondering look on her face. "Hmm, I'll call you Katy." Nini smiled

My eyes widen in horror. No, it had taken me weeks to convince Ty Lee not to call me that. I won't let a spirit call me that either. "I prefer Katara. Sorry."

"Hmm, Katy it is!" Nini grinned cheekily up at me. "Now as much fun this is, we actually don't have a lot of time."

"There's a reason why I'm here?" I asked skeptically

"You know you remind me of my friend Yaya, always a inquisitive person." Nini smiled sadly.

"Is Yaya...did she move on to Eternal Paradise?" I cringed at the near hopeless look on her face. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me to ask."

"No, she's lost right now. I'm hoping I can find her some day. But that's not why you were called here. La has taken an interest in you. He knows your situation in that little mortal town and wants to help."

"La, you mean the Spirit of the Oceans?" I asked in disbelief

"The one and only!"

"But...why would a great spirit such as La, have interest in my problems?" A spirit like him surely has no interest in the problems of the mortal world. Sure my case is abnormal compare to others but still. La has probably not set one foot on Earth for thousands of centuries, why such an interest now?

"You mean you don't know?" Nini raised a brow. "Interesting. Look it up in your fancy book later." she waived her hand. "Just know La is very well interested in your family. He would make an appearance himself but the last time Tui and La contacted you, they were both interfered. And now they are weary of trying again. Interrupting a vision from a spirit is dangerous. Especially one as great as La."

"Oh that was Master Yugoda. She was teaching my brother and I how to connect with the our surroundings and we accidentally slipped into the Spirit Realm. Master Yugoda was frightened and worried for our safety."

"It's all good." Nini shrugged off. "La sent me just in case."

"So what is it that both you and La want to help me with?" I asked, though I had a feeling as to what Nini and essentially La wanted to help me with.

"The Warlock Coven that's harassing your hometown." Nini spoke seriously "That's what Tui was also going to show you before she was rudely interrupted." Nini looked peeved off.

"Do you know what her vision means?" I asked hopefully.

"No. I don't even know what her vision to you was. Anyway that's not why I'm here. What do you know of the Warlock Coven?"

"Nearly nothing! Except that they are obsessed with becoming immortal."

"They figured out how to become immortal." Nini spoke, she sat down in front of me in a lotus position.

"And the people they've kidnapped? What do they have to do with all of this?"

"They are needed as part of the Immortality Ritual." Nini informed. "The Mancer casting needs ten souls of ten kind hearted mortals as part of becoming young and powerful forever."

"Their souls?" I breathed in horror. "Nukpana is eating their souls?" Tom-Tom's soul is trapped in that woman? My stomach felt like it was churning in acid. It was painful to breathe, and my eyes burned as tears gathered in the corners of my eyes. Was it already too late to save Tom-Tom and the others? Did they already died and their souls were just trapped from moving on? "What can we do? Are they dead?"

"Not yet."

"Yet?"

"There's still a chance to save them, and keep them alive. But it has to be done by the full moon of October. That's coming quickly." she informed me. " You would need to perform the Counter-Ritual."

"There's a Counter-Ritual? What do we have to do?"

"Not so fast Katy." Nini held up her hand. "It's important that you know the workings of the Immortality Ritual. You understand that and you'll have a better grasp at its opposite. The Immortality Ritual is recent. It was created only fifteen years ago. The potion requires the blood of a slain unicorn, venom from a vampire, and the blood of the Mancer performing it. They mancer must as to be pledged fully in the Warlock Coven and to the Dark Sorceress Crone. Legend would have it as this woman was the first to control and manipulate dark spirits. The Mancer has to consume ten souls of innocent mortals before taking the potion. She must also bind their bodies to demons or else she would be trapped in Hell for all eternity. On the full moon of October, the bodies are laid out in a circle with Ancient Greek runes drawn into the ground as a circle. When the moon reaches the center of the sky, the Mancer must hold out a four sided bloodgem and say the incantation in Sora. The gem glows from the light of the moon, as well as the enchanter and the runes. Once she has completed the incantation she would become immortal, and the bodies of the victims will have a demon inside them and the Mancer will release them onto the town."

"That...that's sick." I muttered "How are we gonna save them?"

"As hard as this sounds, you have to let the Dark Witch take the other four souls. Be-"

"What?" I shouted over the girl. "Are you crazy? Do you expect me and the others to just sit by and watch as she takes four more souls for her own sick gain?"

"That's exactly what I and La expect you and the others to do." Nini said sternly "The only way to return those souls back to their bodies you need to let the Warlock take the rest of the souls otherwise they will walk through the Spirit Realm and onto Eternal Paradise. And you will have bodies to return to the families. I'm sure that is not what you want."

Still fuming I spoke through gritted teeth. "No. I don't want that to happen."

"Then you'll let the Warlock take the other four souls. She has to take all ten souls by this coming full moon or else it's her soul that will be condemned to Hell and her victims will be lost forever."

"So we just do nothing." I muttered

"I didn't say that." Nini huffed out. "You still have the Counter-Ritual you and the others need to prepare for. And you will still have to battle against the Sorceress, if you don't she will become suspicious and it is best not to tip her off. You will need the element of surprise when facing her and her Apprentice." Nini paused and it looked like she was listening to a voice that only she could hear. "We're out of time now." Nini said

"What? We can't be, you didn't even tell me the Counter-Ritual. How are we suppose to defeat Nukpana and her Apprentice?"

"It's in your spell book. Just write Elixir of Life. It will tell you everything that you need and how to prepare." Nini said calmly. "Now, wake up!"

A blinding light and I was back in my room. Gasping heavily I pushed the hair from my face and stared at the source of the noise. "Ugh...stupid alarm clock." It was six in the morning, I managed to sleep the remainder of the night. And then had one of the strangest of dreams. A little girl telling me how to defeat Nukpana. "Shit!" I quickly turned off my alarm and scrambled out of my bed. I ran down the hall into Sokka's room.

"Katara!" he squealed as he rushed to cover his duck printed boxers. I ignored him and went for the spell book hidden in his closet. I made a triumphant noise as I found it hidden behind a pile of smelly shoes.

I opened the cover and said "Elixir of Life." The pages flipped at a furious pace for a few moments. Sokka had finally acquired some sweatpants and was peering over my shoulder. Finally the pages came to stop with the heading titled the name of the ritual.

"Katara, what the hell is this?" Sokka asked wearily

"We finally have a way to defeat Nukpana."


	24. Chapter 24 The Mirror Call

**Chapter 24 The Mirror Call**

Normal POV

Hakoda found himself once more in the dark basement. His children were currently at school, so the Chief had the house to himself for the next few hours. The man needed a break from this case, more specifically a particular FBI agent Daniel West. The man was a pompous, narcissist, jackass. As mentioned before Hakoda could use all the help he can get as this town as never dealt with a case such as this before. Especially when two witches are in play. After a sixth person wound up missing, a waitress from Minnie's name Carla Everhart, Agent West has been more infuriating. Hakoda could also tell that his men and women were also getting fed up with the FBI.

It was why Hakoda was in his own home in the basement. He left the station in Bato's hands only an hour ago and since then Hakoda has been searching nonstop for a particular box labeled 'Kya's Belongings'. Hopefully the two-way mirror was in there and even more Hakoda hoped that Kuruk and his family was willing to help rid his town of the two witches and save the civilians if it's not too late. He would need all the help he could get. Hakoda didn't like the fact that his own children had involved themselves into the case. It would only be a matter of time before they confront or were confronted by the witches. That's assuming they hadn't already.

The Chief Officer also suspected that his children were not the only supernatural beings in Redwood. Ever since Agent West dragged him along to 'visit' Lu Ten Agni, Hakoda had kept his eyes on the man and his family. After being aware of the hidden world for all these years, Hakoda knew the signs to look for. It was how he knew his own children were learning aquamancy. The new family, they were similar in stance as to mancers, but there was something feral to them. Almost wild like. And his only daughter was dating one of them. Terrific. His life was completely chaotic. Between the paranormal case and his children practicing magic, and Katara possibly dating a wizard, Hakoda was expecting to have a head full of gray hairs by the end of the month.

Hakoda will need to have a long talk with his children. Hakoda needed to know how deep his children were in this case. His already sleepless nights were strained more with the knowledge that Sokka and Katara were probably out there somewhere looking for the two witches. Hakoda had already lost his wife under mysterious circumstances he was not going to lose his children too. He knew if one them were killed because of these witches...he didn't think he would be able to survive that. The man had lost Kya and was only now starting to accept that his children needed to embrace both of their heritages and get out of a rut.

Since her death, Hakoda has been sorely focused in his career. He was an absent Father, sure he provided food, clothes, and shelter, but it hardly meant much when his Mother was the one really taking care of them. It was one of the reasons why Hakoda moved back into Redwood after Kya's death. The less he saw his children's faces the less of a panging reminder of Kya's. It was cruel and selfish of him, and he hopes that one day his children can forgive him.

Hakoda finally came across an old box in the far corner marked 'Kya's Belongings'. "Bingo." he muttered. He grabbed the medium size box with little difficulty, it was lighter than he remembered, and sat down in his armchair in the living room. He placed the box on the coffee table and sat back in his chair. Minutes ticked by and Hakoda was still looking intently at the dusty box. He had not stared at its contents for twelve years. _Has it really been twelve years?_ Hakoda thought wearily. There were some days when the pain of losing Kya felt raw, as though he had lost her the previous day. God he missed her so much, his heart still ached. Kya was missing out on Sokka and Katara growing up, then again so was he.

The elder Ahote sighed deeply. "No time like the present." he muttered. Hakoda pulled open the flaps and gazed down at Kya's possessions. Hmm, he was sure there was a chest in here as well. Then again his children had to have found the chest first since they were aware of being mancers. A photo album was the first thing his eyes rested on. Gingerly Hakoda picked up the old book and thumbed through the pictures. There was one of Kya's family, when she was in high school. It was a formal one, showing the 'perfect family'. Kya and her younger brother in the forefront sitting formally. The Mother, whom Hakoda forgot the name of, stood behind Kya with a hand on her shoulder exuberating the proper woman. And finally the man that nearly made marrying Kya impossible, Pakku Hai Yang. Hakoda wondered if he still had the same steely, cold, blue eyes as he remembered.

Flipping furiously Hakoda stopped at another photo. This one brought a small smile on his face. It was taken a few months after the first time Hakoda met Kya. He was in his second year in college and Kya was in her first. Her best friends were also in the photo, Yangchen and Ursa. They would visit Kya often, both were younger than his wife and had not yet attend college. He wondered how the two of them were, Hakoda had not seen them since Kya's funeral. He hoped they doing well.

Hakoda spent the next hour going through a box full of memories. There was the dried flower Hakoda given to Kya on their first date. A stuffed wolf given to Hakoda by Kya. Some love letters when Kya went home in the summers and wasn't allow to mirror call him. Finally near the bottom of the box was a mirror in a wooden frame. The wood was carved in dancing koi fish. He found the mirror. "I hope this thing still works. Kuruk." Hakoda called out.

The mirror began to glow blue and stayed that way for nearly a minute. Hakoda was about to cancel the call when a holographic face appeared, hovering above the mirror that laid flat in Hakoda's palm. The man had tan skinned, short brown hair, and light blue eyes. Said blue eyes widen in shock before narrowing. "So good to hear from you Hakoda. How long has it been?" Kuruk growled

"I see your mad at me." Hakoda responded

Kuruk snorted. "Now why would I be mad? You only disappeared for twelve years never bothering to contact me or get to see my niece and nephew grow up. You calling now out of the blue means you want something." Kuruk accused

Hakoda sighed "In a way yes. I also want to apologize. I know how much Kya meant to you and it was wrong for me to shut you out when you were also grieving." Kuruk said nothing.

"What is it that you want Hakoda?"

"I'm assuming, you've seen the news about the abductions in Redwood?"

"Yes?" Kuruk looked at the Ahote curiously. "What does that have to do with me?"

"The civilians are being abducted by witches. There's no way my officers and I will ever find them let alone stop them."

"Witches? You're saying witches are now in your hometown?"

"I have the video feed that can prove it." Well he sort of did, but that was a minor detail "I know this is asking you a lot, especially when I stopped all contact with your side of the family. But I am in desperate need of your help. My children have also learned that these witches are terrorizing the town and gotten themselves involved."

"You let them get involved!" Kuruk shouted in outrage

"Let them? They're Kya's kids." Hakoda deadpanned

"Oh...right I forgot. Have they been receiving training then?"

"From what I've seen yes, but I don't know who's teaching them or where it is that they go every afternoon."

Kuruk took a deep calming breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "They're being trained by someone you don't know? What the hell is wrong with you, why didn't you call me sooner?"

"I was in denial of them having magic to begin with. And besides I didn't think you would go against Pakku, you know he could barely stand the sight of my kids because of me."

"Well he's dead." Kuruk said shortly "Along with my Mother. They died a few years after Kya's funeral. They couldn't handle the guilt and grief." Kuruk said "Alright I'll be there, just give me a few minutes to a half an hour."

"Thank you." Hakoda responded gratefully before Kuruk ended the call. "He's changed." Hakoda noted. Though living through the death of not only his sister but then his parents later would do that to a person. But it was still weird to Hakoda. He remembered when he first met the younger Hai Yang. He was rather prideful, laid back, and had a 'go with the flow' nature about him. The complete opposite of what Hakoda had just saw. Gone was the familiar smirk and in place were straight lips and eyes that held experience in them. Life leaves no one affected it seems.

Hakoda quickly sent a mass text to his children telling them to come straight home when school lets out. Knowing his children, especially Katara, they would have more information regarding those witches. He was never really invested in the magical world. Hell he's never even seen a mancer town before as mortals aren't allowed. Kya truly did give up her life immersed in magic for Hakoda.

Ahote could here heavy footsteps walk up his porch and then his door bell ring. "He was mildly surprise to see Kuruk standing in the doorway. He was no longer the wiry teenager that Hakoda remembered, but well muscled and held himself with authority. Both were the same height now, the chief officer also noticed. "How did you find my house, I didn't even give you my address?"

Kuruk lifted a brow. "I am a wizard you know, we have our ways."

"Right." Hakoda stretched out. He allowed Kuruk into his home and led him into the living room. "You wanna cup of coffee or beer?" he asked his brother-in-law.

"Beer sounds good." Kuruk responded

After grabbing two bottles of beer and handing one to Kuruk , the two sat in awkward silence. "So...do you have a wife?" Hakoda asked awkwardly

Kuruk snorted. "Yes, Ummi. She's an Aquamancer, we married a month before my parents passed away. We have a kid too. He's eleven name Sangok, I can already tell he'll be a powerful Aquamancer one day." Kuruk said proudly

Hakoda chuckled. "I can hardly believe you now have a wife and son. I still remember you as this arrogant teenager."

Kuruk smiled slightly. "Yes well, Ummi made me humble." The next two hours were spent in idle chit chat. Though it was still awkward between the two men, Hakoda found himself enjoying Kuruk's company. Even though more than a decade has passed, Kuruk still was an easy man to get along with and was quite forgiving on Hakoda's decision to leave Kya's family behind.

Soon Hakoda could hear the voices of his children coming from the porch. "Sokka for the last time, it's not a rash on your tonsil, I checked."

"I can feel it though! It's my throatal flap!" Sokka shouted indignantly

"You're ridiculous." Katara said tiredly. The Ahote siblings made their way into the living room and stopped short once they saw a man they didn't recognize sitting across from their Dad. "Hello?" Katara said uncertainly

Kuruk gave a soft smile to his niece and nephew. "The both of you look like Kya." he said. The two young Aquamancers' eyes widen. Hakoda found it strange that the two would then shift about nervously. Normally Katara would show great pride in having a Mother such as Kya, had that the change in the last few weeks? If so, why?

"Who are you?" Sokka asked.

"I'm Kuruk, your Uncle." he held out his hand to Sokka and Katara. Both shook it in disbelief. "I'm Kya's younger brother. Your Dad contacted me and told me what's going on in Redwood. I'm here to help."

"You're going to help us?" Katara spoke with some trepidation and a hint of relief.

"I would like to yes. But your Dad here doesn't know much of the situation. He's under the impression that you two would know more." Kuruk smirked knowingly at their guilty faces.

"You knew?" Sokka asked his Dad meekly

"I am the Chief Officer." Hakoda stated knowingly "I would have to be blind not to notice that the two of you have been receiving magical training. The only reason why I'm not angry is because I know the both of you need to learn magic for your safety. But make no mistake, when this is all over the three of us are going to sit down and have a nice long chat about your 'extracurricular activities'." Hakoda frowned

"The downside of having a cop for a Dad." Sokka muttered to Katara.

"Right?" she turned her attention back to her Uncle and Dad. She didn't know how much the two knew of the witches but she wasn't looking forward to telling her Dad that his wife is an evil witch. _I am so not looking forward to this._ She thought wearily. "How much do you know?" the young witch asked as she sat down on the couch. She briefly took notice of her Mom's belongings on the coffee table and was sorely tempted to destroy them.

"Not much I'm afraid." Kuruk replied. "Your Dad only knows that it's two witches that are abducting humans."

"It's the Warlock Coven. Two of them as far as we know." Sokka spoke

Kuruk's eyes widen in disbelief. "The Warlock Coven?" he asked incredulously "They've come to this random human town?"

"Yeah." Katara responded "Their goal is to suck ten souls of innocent people before the next full moon, so that they can become immortal." The two men gazed on in disbelief.

"We've been trying to get the upper hand on the witches but they keep kicking our asses or always one step ahead of us."

"Even with the help of Aang and his family?" Hakoda asked. The Chief wasn't going to lie, it was fun seeing simultaneous looks of shock on his children.

"Oh c'mon!" Sokka moaned "Were we able to keep anything from you!"

"I know sorcerers when I see them. I married one after all."

"This is unsettling. I would have thought the Warlock Coven would have gone back into the shadows after the eradication of hybrids." Kuruk muttered

"Hybrids?" Hakoda questioned curiously

"Magical beings that have mixed magics in their blood. They were fairly common in the White Lotus Movement. Though they have all either been sent to this prison in the Bermuda or been killed. It's widely believed that hybrids are now extinct." Katara and Sokka traded secretive glances. "There's also this conspiracy theory that the Magus Government hired Warlock Coven members to kill any hybrids they set their eyes on."

"Well...that's something different." Hakoda said awkwardly. "But back to our situation. Did you and your friends find a way to stop them?"

"Or did you at the very least find out where they are hiding?" Kuruk asked

"I actually discovered away the Master and her Apprentice can be stopped this morning. It's in this spell book." Katara pulled out the book from her backpack and muttered Elixir of Life before handing the book to her Uncle.

Kuruk held the book with reverence. "The family book." he whispered in awe. "I haven't seen this in a long time." Kuruk spoke with emotion. He then turned his attention to the top of the page:

_The Ritual_

_of the_

**_Elixir of Life_**

Ingredients

(7 Cups) Water blessed by the Spirits(1) Scale of a mermaid(1) Seven-Side Crystal blessed by Tui(1 ounce) Sap from magewood1 drop of blood from each fallen victim

Directions

Rune Circle must be nine feet in diameter. Atlantian Runes must be the Rune CircleAtlantian Runes are the incantation. (See incantation below)The Enchanter must be a direct descendant of Tui or LaThe Elixir must be consumed by the sorcerer with the ten human soulsThis ritual must take place on the full moon of October, when the moon reaches the center of the nighttime sky.

"Unbelievable." Kuruk whispered in astonishment. "I had no clue that such an Elixir existed."

"Neither did we, until this morning." Sokka said "We haven't told the others yet, we were going to this afternoon."

"You can invite some of them over. An FBI agent has their home under surveillance and it would arouse suspicion on their part." Hakoda warned

Katara looked over to her brother uneasily. "Sokka we'll have to tell them. Before the others get here."

"Tell us what?" Hakoda asked worriedly.

"It's about Mom." Sokka said

"Kya? What does all of this have to do with my sister?" Kuruk asked

"She's...she's alive and is part of the Warlock Coven." Katara spoke quickly and nervously. The two young Ahotes were met with blank stares.


	25. Author's Note

Author's Note

I like to apologize for not writing a further chapter for so long. Life came in the way and when I had the chance to write once more, I lost my muse. I tried really hard to type up another chapter, to finish this story but there was no spark. But I really don't want to see this story abandoned. If any of you is interested in adopting this story, feel free to PM me. Otherwise it will be left unfinished.


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